Nigeria has officially been removed from the aviation watchlist, as Airbus and Boeing have elevated the country’s credit score to 75 percent.
The country’s global aviation compliance score saw a significant improvement following the signing of the administrative rules governing aircraft repossession by creditors and lessors, known as the Irrevocable De-registration and Export Request Authorisation (IDERA).
The Aviation Working Group (AWG) announced this yesterday on its website, stating that Nigeria’s score on the Cape Town Convention (CTC) Compliance Index has been increased from 70.5% to 75.5%, placing the country in the ‘high category.’ This development marks Nigeria’s official removal from the AWG’s watchlist of non-compliant countries.
The AWG, in a communication to the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, confirmed that the signing of the IDERA concludes Nigeria’s compliance process.
Keyamo, in a post on his official X handle, said that this milestone is expected to open new avenues for aircraft financing and dry-leasing for Nigerian airline operators, ensuring greater access to aircraft leasing markets globally. “The resulting impact will be felt in increased flight regularity, the expansion of serviced routes, and competitive ticket pricing, ultimately benefiting the Nigerian public,” he said.
Earlier in the day, the Minister was at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport for the commissioning of Joint User Hydrant Installation Two (JUHI 2), sponsored by some oil companies.
Keyamo, who expressed delight at the development, said that this is the highest score the country had ever attained to date, noting that it would give comfort to financiers and the leasing world.
He said: “It’s a major market opener for the aviation sector, especially the Nigerian aviation sector around the world. They can then go globally and access the world of aircraft financing and aircraft leasing. We were actually on a blacklist before; at 49.5, a non-compliant figure, we moved on to 70.5, which was a compliant belt, but still on the watchlist.
“With 75.5, we are completely off the watchlist, and the Aviation Working Group (AWG), co-chaired by Airbus and Boeing, termed it a high score for the country, and it matches the scores of most of the big nations in the world, which access big aircraft finances. We have that kind of access now, I can assure you.
“I think it is the political will, the encouragement by Mr. President, the focus we have. Mr. President gave us the right direction on what to do and how to go and set up the policies there. This request, I can tell you, has been on the table in Nigeria, but nobody attended to it. They thought it was something they didn’t need to bother about.
“That was why we had a policy shift in the past in Nigeria to rather access other bigger countries to come and help us to take over our aviation eco-system, but we said we can’t do it. That was the solemn resignation to the fact that we can’t do it, but with this policy shift, we should go to the root of what happened and how those other countries did this.”
Last month, Nigeria moved from 49 points to 70.5 after the signing of the Cape Town Convention Practice Direction.
Keyamo said that the country had the potential for further increase in the next few weeks, stressing that he had directed the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to immediately adjust its administrative rules called IDERA to also fully align with the convention to further boost the confidence of financiers and lessors across the world.
Source: thesun