The minister of aviation, Mr. Hadi Sirika has welcomed the collaboration between the ministry of aviation and the ministry of finance incorporated (MOFI) to invest in the growth and expansion of Nigerian airlines.
This would be achieved through fleet expansion financing to enable them compete on the global stage.
Receiving the chief executive officer of MOFI, Dr Armstrong Takang in his office in Abuja recently, the minister of aviation, Mr. Hadi Sirika, said there was a structure for MOFI, which, according to him, “has fallen into the right hand to get the mandate of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria delivered and effected appropriately.
He recalled that during the 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 per cent to the GDP of Nigeria.
Sirika 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 Takang said Sirika’s recent appointment as a member of the MOFI governing council would be valuable for delivering significant value to its key stakeholders and its portfolio companies.
He recalled that MOFI is used as a special purpose vehicle across the economic sector, focusing on holding the federal government’s investments, which it had been using to invest in commercial entities for over 60 years.
However, he added that MOFI is not structured to deliver on the mandate that expected of it.
He said 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.
Takang said in line with the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari 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 optimisation of “our investments and assets.”
He noted that the development and modernisation of the country’s airports is crucial for socio economic development.
He expressed MOFI’s interest in supporting the growth and expansion of Nigerian airlines, adding that MOFI would like to explore ways in which it can provide financing and investment for airlines to expand their fleets.
He noted that the investment and collaboration would bring about mutual benefits for both MOFI and the ministry of aviation.
