The Aviacargo Roadmap Committee setup to address the challenges inhibiting the seamless exportation of Nigerian products to the global market has commenced the process of identifying the bottlenecks in the industry with a tour of the two major grand handling Companies in the aviation sector.
The committee which was setup in 2022 by the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, Capt. Rabiu Yadudu, was charged with the responsibility of identifying hindrances to the country’s export processes and drawing up an aviacargo guideline that ensure a seamless operation in the sector.
Coordinator of the Aviacargo Roadmap Committee, Mr Ikechi, who spoke at the office of the Managing Director, Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCO), Plc, Mr Basil Agboarumi during a courtesy visit, said the purpose of the aviacargo project is to create and enabling environment that would improve efficiency in the system, increase export volumes in the country and increasing revenue generation for the sector and the country at large.
He said Nigeria has a huge population and vast land that could drive the volume of export but is not using it to its advantage.
He said: “The whole project of trying to create a template for aviacargo is to create more business for SAHCO and the industry. With our huge population, we are doing poorly and the whole concept is to improve the processes and also to grow the volume of cargo out of Nigeria. To do all of that we needed to understand what are the challenges and what are the mitigation to these challenges.
“And we thank FAAN for being able to sustain this. Since December, some of us have been meeting twice a week to make sure that we collate all the information and present to the country. It is a national project and we are happy that both SAHCO and NAHCO both sits on the committee and they made great contributions.
“We hope that by the end of this project, in the next three years, Nigeria will be number one in aviacargo. Part of why we are here today is to find out why it is very difficult for us to improve the processes to aviacargo. We import a lot and not able to export a lot.”
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In his response, Managing Director, SAHCO, Mr Basil Agboarumi commended the committee on embarking on the project saying Nigeria needs to change the narrative where cargo planes are still departing the country empty adding that the only way to do that is through air cargo.
He said there is no doubt that the sector is a cash cow for economic growth but that the attention of the country has been wrongly directed.
Agboarumi added with the vast arable land in the country, Nigeria could easily solve its forex challenges if proper attention is given to the export sector.
He said: “I am happy that this happening because we need to change that narrative whereby aircraft will come in and they will go back empty. And the only way we can do that is to be sure that we get the cargo that the airlines need.
“There is no doubt that there is money in this sector but our attention has been wrongly directed. Where the money is actually is, is in aviation. Cargo all over the world is thriving. People will always tell you cargo does not complain, so when you do the right thing, it gives you what you want. Nigeria as a country is large, with about 200 million people. There are many great nations of the world today that cannot compare to what we have as a country.
“And if you have been opportune to travel by road in Nigeria, you will understand that Nigeria is also blessed. You have land in Nigeria that will go for Agriculture. Most of the things that the world is looking for are here. The world needs what we have. And one of the easiest ways to pass them across is through air cargo.
But for us it has been a thing of surprise that, even as far as we have gone as a nation, we are not exporting much. We have been used to oil, suddenly we realised that if need the forex that has become very difficult for us to get. What we need is to give things out then people will give us the dollars.”
Also speaking during the committee’s visit to Nigeria Aviation Handling Company, Plc, (nahco aviance), Group Managing Director/CEO, Indranil Gupta, said Nigeria has the potential to meet the demands of West Africa and the African continent at large.
Gupta said: “If we just look at our neighbourhood, the Francophone countries, almost all of them are 99% dependent on import and imports which are primarily done from Europe and America. And a lot of those import which is about 40% to 50% are being created in Nigeria in excess.
“So, Nigerian economy, Nigerian manufacturers have a lot to contribute to the immediate neighbourhood and the larger continent as well. We have to enable and expose the manufacturers, the growers, the farmers to this opportunity.”
