FG invests $870m in airport upgrade — FAAN

The Federal Government has invested $870m in airport infrastructure upgrade. Currently, Nigeria is one of only six nations in Africa that are infusing funds into infrastructure development and improving the lot of airports in order to bring the to the world standards.


This information was made know on Tuesday by the Managing Director, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), George Uriesi, during the presentation of his paper ‘Airport regulation from the Africa perspective’, at the Airport Council International Conference and Exhibition in Lome, Togo.


As a result of the huge expenditure, the FAAN director said it might introduce a token developmental charge in order to have a return on the investment once the projects were completed.

Uriesi also said that although many countries are investing in infrastructure, not all of them have the passenger figures to gain return on the investment. Apart from Egypt and South Africa that had over 30 million passengers annually, only eight other African countries had a total passenger figure of above seven million, he added.

The FAAN boss concluded that the passenger traffic in Africa was not enough to provide the funds for airport development.

He further explained that this might have led countries like Tunisia, Mozambique, Togo, Tanzania and Senegal to invest heavily to ensure rapid development of their airports.