Sade Williams/Business a.m.
A push to generate N100 billion in revenue over the next five years will see Nigerian Aviation Handling Company PLC (nahco aviance), the West African aviation ground handling giant, target other sectors of the economy for investment.
Both Seinde Oladapo Fadeni, the company’s chairman, and Indranil Gupta, its group managing director and chief executive officer, expressed this position separately at the recent annual general meeting of the company in Lagos.
Plans to diversify its investment portfolio in order to create new jobs and contribute significantly to resolving the country’s foreign exchange crisis have been concluded, Fadeni disclosed, adding that the company was exploring new areas of investment in order to trigger positive economic impact.
Fadeni said NAHCO was convinced that the food export holds significant potential for foreign exchange earnings because of its impact on the livelihoods and prosperity of many Nigerians.
Indranil Gupta, group managing director, stressing the diversification plans, said the company intends to diversify investment into other sectors of the economy in order to grow, adding that NAHCO will continue to invest in operational equipment to drive sustainable growth .
“We will continue to leverage our strength and market insights to pursue organic and strategic growth initiatives to expand our market presence and revenue streams. We plan to comprehensively refresh our fleet of ground support equipment to replace ageing equipment and increase the numbers in our fleet to meet the ever increasing customer needs and expectations,” Gupta said.
He added that NAHCO was already embracing digitalisation and innovation, investing in cutting edge technologies and solutions to enhance the company’s service offerings, operational efficiency and competitiveness, noting that by harnessing the power of data analytics, automation and predictive maintenance, NAHCO aims to stay ahead of the industry trends and deliver superior value to its clients.
Providing more information, Fadeni, the company’s chairman, said while NAHCO is navigating safely around the myriad of challenges confronting the air transport space, he urged the government to look at ways to improve airport infrastructure to keep pace with the future growth plan.
He said industry stakeholders have an obligation to look at implementing policies that support sustainable aviation fuel, adding that concrete targets should be set and steps taken to execute innovations that support the industry and the world’s net zero CO2 emission goals.
He said: “NAHCO believes that the government at the centre should work towards reducing the financial burden for airlines and passengers by reviewing applicable taxes. This way, more payees would be brought into the tax net. Not too long, the International Air Transport Association declared that Nigerian airports charge foreign airlines about 27 levies.
“This makes Nigerian airports the most expensive in the world, discouraging airlines from flying into the country. This is not the kind of laurel Nigeria should be proud of. It is a disincentive to investment to both active and prospective investors. Government should address this situation. Government should also heed the industry’s calls for the harmonisation of the regulatory environment, particularly at the ports in a way that aligns with global best practices. The nation’s Ease of Doing Business mantra should be in practice and not in theory only.”
Fadeni said as much as the company supports the federal government’s Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund, especially as it relates to the aviation industry, and its plan to upgrade infrastructure at the airports, such a declaration should have overall industry impact.
Fadeni said though the year 2023 was characterised with multiple cost related challenges, the increased cost of handling an aircraft cannot be easily passed on the airline by ground handling companies because any proposed hike in rates would require the approval of the industry regulator – Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
He said: “The very act of getting new rates approved has its challenges as well. It is therefore not uncommon to see ticket prices rising geometrically while ground handling rates charged by service providers to airlines remain solidly stagnant.”
He spoke of plans by NAHCO to re–invest in its facilities to enable it to retain its position in the ground handling and warehousing business.
Fadeni said: “Our push towards birthing a global integrated logistic giant is taking good shape with the coming into operations of new subsidiaries.”
