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Forex scarcity: Minister mulls lifeline for airline operators

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If the Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika has his way, the paucity of foreign exchange which is already taking a toll on the activities of airlines operating in the country would soon be a thing of the past.

Specifically, the minister hopes to liaise with the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, to fashion out a way to make foreign exchange accessible to both foreign and local airlines operators.

The minister gave this hint in Abuja on Monday during a meeting with Airline Operators Association of Nigeria (AOAN).

Speaking against the backdrop of forex scarcity, he said: “I’m not aware that there is any disparity between domestic airline operators and foreign airline operators in accessing foreign exchange and I can assure you that this will not happen under my watch because our primary purpose is to promote and sustain businesses in Nigeria that will in turn attract other investors.
“I had been to CBN to resolve the forex matter and I will not stop. I have placed a call to the CBN governor and I will ensure that both domestic and foreign airline operators have access to forex as against the rumoured disparity in terms of access.”

Pressed further, he said: “No matter how bad the forex situation is, I will tidy the way and ensure that things are to the advantage of the airline operators because you must be able to access hard currency to remain in business.”

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On the price and availability of aviation fuel, he said:  “I cannot regulate the price of aviation fuel that has risen from N115 to N150 because I am not in charge of controlling the price of fuel but I can assure you that we are committed to ensuring that we begin the production of aviation fuel and we will start with Port Harcourt”.

Earlier, ‎the chairman of AOAN, Captain Nogie Megison, had urged the minister to work towards making aviation industry attractive and conducive for operations by addressing challenges of access to foreign exchange, upgrading of airports, 24 hours operations, VAT waiver, and better delivery of service by FAAN, NAMA and NCAA.

He stressed that if the challenges are not properly handled, aviation industry would face more challenges that would lead operators to stop their operations in the coming months.
AOAN however noted that if the challenges are addressed, the aviation sector has the capacity of contributing 40 percent to the Gross Domestic Product as against the current percentage which is put at 0.4 percent.

According to him; “We want the government to come out with a clear policy that will help aviation contribute 40 percent to the GDP as against the 0.4 percent that it currently contributes.
“If the policies are well done, aviation sector should be able to create 10,000 direct jobs and 100,000 indirect jobs between now and 2019.”

 

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