The African Development Bank has appointed Nigeria’s Aviation Minister, Barrister Festus Keyamo, as “the African Champion to drive its program that has been developed to invest substantially in aviation in Africa.” A statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Communication to the Honourable Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr. Tunde Moshood confirmed that, “This is the Integrated Aviation Transformation Program for Africa (IATP) for which it has earmarked the sum of $7 billion (Seven Billion Dollars).”
In this respect, the bank invited the Minister to its Annual Meeting which held in Brazzaville during which the formal signing of the Letter Of Intent (LOI) between the Bank and Nigeria took place.
According to Mr. Moshood, “The Integrated Aviation Transformation Programme for Africa is a continent-wide platform designed to modernize Africa’s aviation ecosystem and mobilize private, institutional, and concessional capital. It seeks to revitalize the industry, as African airlines currently account for less than 3 percent of global air traffic despite housing nearly 18 percent of the global population.”
He stated that: “The Aviation Minister is now expected to bring his knowledge, commitment and passion to drive this program in the whole of Africa. The Bank expressed its deep gratitude to the Minister for his commitment to advancing Aviation in the whole of Africa.”
“I unveiled President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda for the Aviation sector and rolled out the potentials of the sector, especially the newly approved Nigeria Aircraft Leasing Company and why the Bank should mobilise capital to support it. I explained that this can form the template for other African Nations to emulate. I reiterated that Nigeria has done the groundwork to enable the takeoff of such an initiative, including domesticating the Cape Town Convention, updating its IDERA and reworking its aviation insurance policies to meet global industry standards.” The Honourable Minister added.
