FAAN eyes top African spot in airport cargo movement 

By Sade Williams/Business a.m.

• Ups air cargo development efforts 

• Sets up airport, export, cargo sub-committees

The federal government, through the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN),  has taken further steps to reposition and rejig air cargo business and operations in the country while also committing to doing everything possible to ensure Nigeria moves to the top of the chart in cargo movements in African airports.

Nigeria, currently ranks fifth in Africa’s air cargo movements while it also imports more than she exports, creating an imbalance that is adversely affecting the economy.

Speaking at the managing director’s office conference room, FAAN, Lagos, during the inauguration of three sub-committees of the AviaCargo committee, Ikechi Uko, coordinator of the committee, who is also the organiser of Aviation and Cargo Conference, an annual programme tagged CHINET, said Nigeria can move up the ladder of air cargo movements in Africa if all hands were on deck.

“We need to be number one in Africa, in a hurry, for the simple fact that we have the largest economy in Africa, we have busy airports, we want to be the hub for cargo movements in West Africa

“Kenya is ranked number one in Africa, yet it has a smaller economy. What are we not doing right in Nigeria where we have busier airports?

“We found some gaps and that gave rise to setting up these committees. We found out that the quantity of domestic cargo through the airports is too small; we cannot develop a regional cargo hub without having strong domestic operations. Why are the airlines not taking this seriously?” He asked, rhetorically.

Uko, who noted further that there is a need for an engagement with logistics companies, disclosed that the issue of funding was also identified.

“We have three years to turn things around but we can do this in 18 months if we are committed. We plan to work with five clusters. What can we do to scale up production, export and distribution in all the clusters? We will work using the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis for each of the clusters,” he added.

Hycineth Ngwu, general manager, business development, (FAAN), explained that the managing director of FAAN, Rabiu Yadudu, decided to champion the development of air cargo by first nominating Ikechi Uko as coordinator of AviaCargo committee to kickstart the process.

The three sub-committees inaugurated on Tuesday are ‘Airport’, ‘Cargo’, and ‘Export’ sub-committees.

According to Uko, they have 45 days to deliver results.

The Airport team has the following among others as terms of reference:

“How will we make Nigeria the No. 1 Air Cargo airport in Africa?” “What are the challenges getting to the No. 1 (NEEDS assessment), gaps between current and achieving desired outcome.”

“How do we make Lagos and Abuja – attractive as a hub?” “Review or create Airport Master plan, Airport vision and development strategy.”

“Establish development Priorities” “Multitenancy planning”; “Expanding none airside business, Freezone Integration and Airport Warehousing.” “Freezone Integration strategy  and Warehousing integration.”

“How do the plans devolve into getting the airports ready for Cargo – additional recommendations.”

Scope and Scale of work include: “What needs to be done to achieve capacity?” “How can we scale with existing constraints?” “What are the benefits in allowing potential end-users to install and regulate standards?” “How do we identify potential end users?” “Identify the business opportunities and markets.”

Membership of the committees is drawn from:  FAAN, NCAA, SAHCO, NAHCO, EHI, GWX, PAMOLISA, NEPZA, AON NCS and Elvis Emecheta.

The export sub-committee’s terms of reference include but not limited to:

“What do we produce for export? (Complete List)”.

“What are the existing markets for Nigerian products?”

“What are the challenges with production?” “Why do our exports not meet destination requirements?” “How do we increase production?” “Industries and Users that can scale the opportunity.” “Itemise a breakdown of the factors and constraints (ie, multiple taxation etc.). “What are the challenges in transporting the products to the point of export?”

“What are the challenges faced in the regulatory framework.?” “What are the challenges faced by our exports at the destinations (prod. by product)?”

“What is the possibility to transform our raw materials currently being exported?”

The Scope of work includes: undertaking research, having stakeholders’ engagement, compilation of study and production of a report.

Membership includes: Capt John Okapu, NAQs, SON, NAFDAC, NEPZA, Cargolux, SAHCO, NAHCO, Insurance, NEPC, Farmer Association and DAD Logistics.

Cargo sub-committee’s terms of reference include but not limited to :

“Cargo numbers reflect that Nigeria is Number 5, what are the reasons?”

“What are the factors surrounding and limiting the growth in Aviacargo (collate the factors)?” “Itemize a breakdown of the factors and constraints (ie multiple taxation, etc).

“What is the percentage of impact for each identified factor/constraint?” “Graph the impacts and recommend ways to mitigate the constraints.”

“What is the opportunity for scaling the numbers – Industries and users that can scale the opportunity?”

“How would the constraints be removed?”

“What are the possible projections if the limitations are removed?”

Aircargo industry and impacts: “List cargo operators both operating in the region and possibility of operating and the route they fly.”

Scope of work: “What needs to be done to achieve capacity?” “How can we scale the hurdle with existing constraints?” “What are the benefits and detriments in allowing potential end-users to install and regulate standards?” “How do we identify potential end users? Identify the business opportunities and markets.”

Members:

Cargolux, GWX, Ehi, Pamolisa, SAHCO, NAHCO, ANCLA, NAGAFF, AON; Amos Akpan, DAD Logistics, Customs, NCAA and Elvis Emecheta.