Government can no longer finance airports, says minister
The Minister of State for Aviation, Mr. Hadi Sirika
• Plans increased flight frequency for foreign airlines operators
It is no longer wise for government to bear the burden of managing airports, said Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika.
According to the Minister, dwindling revenue, high rate of foreign exchange and demands of global best practices, make the need for Public Private Partnership inevitable.
Interacting with reporters in Abuja, yesterday, Sirika said the truth is: government cannot continue to support and finance airports because it has limited resources.
He called on entrepreneurs with knowledge in airports’ management to come forward and bid for the Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt facilities.
The Minister stressed that concession could take a long time, as government intends to follow due process, adding that the Ministry is in the process of acquiring the service of a transaction adviser and that the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) has given the Ministry the support it needs for a smooth process.
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5 Comments
if FG want real to fight corruption, some government companies should be privatize, privatizing do not mean auction sale to friends and brothers or relatives. at the end government will only so golden share for the control and monitorying
Even if they sell at the right price to their friends, it is OK by me. At least we stop spending our money on nonviable stuffs, with no appreciable returns or even improvement in the lots of what we are spending on. Rather they become sink hole for our money. So let them sell them off, as long as not at give away prices, and their “friends” can put their money there rather than our money.
The best option for most of this government entity is to make them publicly traded companies listed on NSE. This does a lot of things for the company and the government. it removes them from the operation of the company, it give average Nigeria and investors a chance to own part of it. it bring in at least 5-6 regulators to monitor the company, and it allows international best practice to be used. No more selling to friends, family and political friends. no more concessions that just continues the status quo and yet continue to waste funding. A publicly traded company would be forces by investor and regulator to operate at best standard and drive to be profitable.
I’m of the same opinion with you but this can be possible by given the possibility for private to participate/investors. to list it on NSE will be the best. Fg companies has become banks for corrupted politicians.
We might as well ask Virgin, British Airways, Air France, etc. to take over our aviation activities. If you “sell” to Nigerians, you are inviting cronyism, where the buyer must be judged on ethnicity, religion or political party affiliation. It is a shame, though, that Nigeria cannot have a state carrier for many decades to come.
We will review and take appropriate action.