Sirika in funding pipeline talks with MOFI for domestic airlines

By Sade Williams/Business a.m. 

Hadi Sirika, Nigeria’s minister of aviation, has opened possible funding pipeline talks with the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI), the investment vehicle of the ministry of finance, with a view to supporting the growth and expansion of Nigerian airlines by providing financing and investment for them to expand their fleets, enhance their devices and compete on the global stage.

Sirika met with Armstrong Takang, chief executive officer of MOFI, in Abuja recently where both men discussed the need to explore ways to make this happen.

Takang noted that the investment and collaboration would bring about mutual benefits for both MOFI and the Ministry of Aviation.

Sirika also said a collaboration between the Aviation Ministry and the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) was paramount in the civil aviation part of the Nigerian economy.

                     Hadi Sirika, minister of aviation

The minister expressed his excitement that there was a structure for MOFI, and it has fallen into the right hands to get the mandate of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria delivered and effected appropriately.

He recalled that during the Nation’s Transition Committee period, there was an extensive discussion as to what contribution the aviation sector could make, and it was considered to add up to five percent to the GDP of Nigeria.

The minister added that a road map was created for the civil aviation industry to create a robust sector that would be financially healthy and which would also make aviation the most preferred means of transportation.

Speaking earlier at the meeting, the CEO of the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI), Armstrong Takang, congratulated the Minister on his recent appointment as a member of the MOFI Governing Council.

He said the appointment demonstrated Mr President’s trust in him given his vast experience in driving governance to achieve desirable outcomes, which would be valuable for MOFI in delivering significant value to its key stakeholders and its portfolio companies.

Armstrong recalled that MOFI was used as a Special Purpose Vehicle across the economic sector, focused on holding federal government investments, which it had been using to invest in commercial entities for over 60 years.

However, he added that MOFI was not structured to deliver on the mandate that was expected of it, noting that its peers established at the same time and restructured to reflect current realities, had gone on to make major social and economic impacts in their respective countries. Many of them, he said, had become global brands for investing beyond their home countries’ borders.

He said, in line with the approval of Mr.President to create a comprehensive National Asset Register (NAR) by aggregating, profiling and managing all national assets and investments, the NAR would be harnessed to strengthen the nation’s fiscal and economic realities and the optimization of its investments and assets, noting that the development and modernization of the country’s airports was crucial for socio economic development.