The desire to make Nigeria rise in rating in aviacargo business is truly on course as a team of experts in cargo has visited Ghana to understudy the country’s cargo export with a view to boosting the country’s revenue through cargo. Nigeria is currently ranked number five in Africa behind aviacargo Leaders Kenya, Egypt South Africa, and Ethiopia. According to the Airports Council International (ACI), the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, ranks fifth in Africa with 204, 649 tonnes of cargo air freighted in the last few years. The non-oil export products showed a remarkable increase in the last six months as available data show that Nigerians in the sector exported a total of 3.5 million metric tonnes of non-oil cargo between January and June of 2023.
To actualise government’s plan, a source said Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Owerri, Port Harcourt, Calabar, Enugu, Makurdi, Minna, Jos, Ilorin, Yola, and Kebbi terminals had been designated for cargo/passenger operations. Besides, some state governments, which include Anambra, Ebonyi, Ogun, Ekiti, and Yobe, have invested huge funds to drive the cargo export value chain. Air cargo, including the export of agricultural produce from Nigeria, accounted for about 35 per cent of global trade last year, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The aviacargo team recently embarked on a fact-finding mission to the cargo facilities of the Kotoka International Airport, Accra, Ghana as part of its benchmarking efforts in the air cargo business. The team was led by the Director of Commercial and Business Development, Olumyiwa FemiPearse. The trip was with the support of the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority GCAA and the Ghana Airport Company Ltd (GACL).
The trip is part of the effort by the Nigerian team to ramp up aviacargo business in Nigeria. Nigeria is currently ranked number five in Africa behind aviacargo Leaders Kenya, Egypt South Africa, and Ethiopia. As the biggest economy and the largest population Nigeria receives over 10 fully loaded freighters weekly and most leave empty. To redress this, the government of Nigeria set up an aviacargo roadmap committee with Ikechi Uko as the coordinator of the project. They were received at the airport by the GCAA and the GACL led by Rev. Alexander Kwaiku Yeboah, the Air Cargo Safety Inspector for GCAA. Capt. Solomon Quainoo, the Director of MCDAN Aviation, and the Group CEO, Kweku Ampofi, received the team at the MCDAN Group FBO. They were taken to Aviance Cargo, the oldest special-purpose cargo terminal in Ghana, for a tour of the first upscale cargo terminal in Ghana.
They also visited the Swissport terminal, which is the most modern cargo terminal in West Africa, where they engaged with government agencies and some stakeholders. The team also visited the Nigerian Embassy where the High Commissioner, Ibok-Ete Ibas, and the staff hosted them. The High Commissioner thanked the team for making time to visit the Embassy, adding that he wanted the team to make sure the report and findings were implemented. “Nigeria is now learning from People who had earlier learnt from us, we should show more Patriotism to restore Nigeria to its rightful position in the world,” he said. The Group rounded off the tour with an engagement with the Ghana Export Promotion Agency, GEPA. They were received by Deputy CEO, Albert Kassim Diwura. After the engagement the coordinator of the Nigerian aviacargo roadmap committee, while thanking the government of Ghana for the reception of the team, wondered why the two countries were not working closer.
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