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.