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Determined to make Nigeria the number air cargo export hub in Africa, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN constituted a committee to drive this process.
The Committee inaugurated in December, 2022 tagged Aviacargo and Coordinated by the organizer of CHINET, Aviacargo conference Mr. Ikechi Uko commenced deliberations and met many times to discuss areas where there are challenges and impediments to achieving a boost in air cargo movement.
The essence of setting up the Aviacargo committee by the Managing Director, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, Capt. Rabiu Yadudu is based on the findings and recommendations of the Chinet Aviacargo conference which took place September, 2021.
The Committee which comprised major stakeholders in the air cargo export eco-system have met and thought it wise to have experts in the air cargo export to drive the process.
To this end, the coordinator, Mr. Ikechi Uko have constituted three sub-committees to be headed by a chairman and co-chairmen with terms of reference and timeline to put together their findings, challenges and solutions.
At the inauguration of the committee Tuesday, Mr. Uko charged the committees to be dedicated to their duties to achieving an increase in air cargo export and put Nigeria in the world map as a major hub of air cargo movement in Africa.
The committees constituted include, Airport, Export and Cargo.
In his opening remarks, Mr. Uko said, Nigeria can climb from its 5th position to displace Kenya which is currently the number one in air cargo hub in Africa, adding that, it is doable if all hands are on deck.
He said, currently, data showed that, Nigeria do more of import than export, a development that is negatively affecting the nation’s economy.
According to him, this imbalance can be addressed because Nigeria has busy airports, cargo and passenger, the population, rich investors and the largest economy in Africa.
“We have the largest economy in Africa, we have the largest population, we are probably the most entrepreneurial, we have very busy airports but we are number 5 in cargo, aviacargo in Africa. Lagos economy is bigger than Kenya in GDP, yes, Kenya is number 5 in Africa and Lagos is number 4 yet Kenya doesn’t have the biggest airline, doesn’t have the largest airport, doesn’t have the largest population, it has a small economy yet Kenya is number one and Nigeria is number 5.”
“What are we not doing right, how do we take advantage of the size of our economy, how do we take advantage of our population, our enterprise? There is no top 10 Kenyan billionaires in Africa, we have all the rich men but we don’t do well in this area. So, we decided along with FAAN that something needs to be done”.
To harness these advantages, the sub-committees constituted are to do the following:
The Cargo Team is to find the factors surrounding and limiting the growth in Aviacargo(collate the factors), Itemize a breakdown of the factors and constraints (ie multiple taxation etc.), the percentage of impact for each identified factor/constraint.
Others are: “Graph the impacts Recommend ways to mitigate the constraints, opportunity for scaling the numbers, Industries and Users that can scale the opportunity, how would the constraints be removed, the possible projections if the limitations are removed and Aircargo industry and impacts, among others”.
They have been given up till 28th March, 2023 to submit their final Report
For the Airport Team, they are to find out, how to make Nigeria the No. 1 Air Cargo airport in Africa, the challenges getting to the No. 1 (NEEDS assessment) gaps between current and achieving desired outcome, how to make Lagos and Abuja – attractive as a hub, Review or create Airport Master plan, Airport vision and development strategyyy, Establish development Priorities Multitenancy planning expanding none airside business Freezone Integration and Airport Warehousing.
Others are: the Freezone Integration strategy Warehousing integration, how do the plans devolve into getting the airports ready for Cargo – additional recommendations, Infrastructure planning and handling (time-sensitive parcels, C2C bulks loads, small packages, large regulars, and special cargo items), what are the Forecasts and projections -create and adjust forecasts for overall objective Gaps and closing the current failures, amongst others.
They have been given 10th March 2023 to turn in their final Report.
For Export Team, the deadline for submission of final report is 8th March 2023 to find out: produce for export, (Complete List), the existing markets for Nigerian products, the challenges with production and why Nigeria exports do not meet destination requirements.
“How to increase production, Industries and Users that can scale the opportunityItemize a breakdown of the factors and constraints (i.emultiple taxation etc.), the challenges in transporting the products to the point of export, the challenges faced in regulatory framework”.
Others are, “the challenges faced by our exports at the destinations (product by product), the possibility to transform our raw materials currently being exported, Identify sources for transformation at airport, What else can be exported and to which markets?, What are the potential new markets (by product)Provide projections in tonnage for potential opportunities. What do we put in place for a successful export market ie Packaging, Proper Warehousing, etc”.
