Brazilian, Chinese, and UK aviation companies are setting their sights on Nigeria’s domestic market as the country rolls out ambitious reforms to attract billions in private and foreign investment.
Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo, announced the initiatives during a world press conference in Abuja for the launch of Africa’s first aeronautics university, emphasizing that Nigeria aims to position itself as the continent’s aviation hub through strategic partnerships and infrastructure upgrades.
Keyamo explained that the government is opening up the skies to global investors through airport concessions and the attraction of maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) investors, in collaboration with local partners.
“We are concessioning airports and attracting maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) investors, even with local partners. In Lagos, I recently launched one of the biggest MRO facilities capable of handling wide-body aircraft. It’s being done in collaboration with Brazilian manufacturers, that’s direct foreign investment in action,” he said.
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The minister also unveiled new measures to ease leasing restrictions and attract global aircraft leasing firms, noting that Nigeria is on track to receive its first dry-leased aircraft in nearly two decades, a development he described as a sign of growing investor confidence.
“We’re softening the ground for local operators to access dry leases globally. For the first time in almost 20 years, we’ll receive a dry-leased aircraft, a major milestone for our domestic carriers,” Keyamo told Business Insider Africa.
He further revealed that major global aviation players, including Aircap, the Dublin-based aircraft leasing giant, and China’s COMAC, are exploring partnerships with Nigeria.
According to Keyamo, COMAC plans to introduce its C919 aircraft for domestic routes in Nigeria, with expansion prospects across other African markets in the future.
Industry experts believe the launch of the new aeronautics university and accompanying aviation policy reforms could save African nations millions of dollars annually that are currently spent training pilots overseas.
They also see the initiative as a crucial step toward regional aviation independence.
“By investing in our own aviation capacity,” Keyamo asserted, “Africa can stop outsourcing its skies to others.”
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Image Credit: Airport Spotting
