Nigeria expects greater Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the aviation sec­tor in the months ahead following her successful recertification to a Catego­ry One status by the Unit­ed States Federal Aviation Administration (USFAA).
The industry had been im­mersed in a lot of financial crisis, which led to delay in completion of the remodel­ing projects and abandon­ment of projects earmarked for execution by the govern­ment.
But apathy on the part of investors to commit funds to such mega projects like the perishable cargo terminals, aerotropolis projects and en­try of more domestic airlines into the new international market had been linked to safety and security issues raised during the audit of the Nigerian aviation industry.
Last week, however, the result of the audit of the Ni­gerian civil aviation industry by the USFAA had certified its operations, facilities and personnel as being of inter­national standards and qual­ity to allow linkages with the global market.
Benedict Adeyileka, Act­ing Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) who briefed the media in Lagos last Friday said the country had invested much on in­frastructure acquisition and upgrade in the last three years to meet international standards and that the ma­jor challenge, which the in­dustry had worked to meet the USFAA audit require­ment was in the training and re-training of technical personnel to match global standards.
“We had a clear directive from President Goodluck Jonathan that we must not lose Category One since India had just lost hers and was downgraded prior to USFAA’s visit to Nigeria. That meant we had to be truthful to ourselves in the area that we were deficient, which had to do with the personnel and so we had to go the extra mile to get the funds to train and re-train most of the technical per­sonnel we had prior to the audit,” Adeyileka said.
“It took the cooperation of all stakeholders for us to get this Cat-One. The challenge now is that we have to build on the standards and quality we have just set,” he added.
Adeyileka said whatever apathy that had been shown by investors would fade soon as the industry is set to witness a new wave of in­flow of investment.
“With the Category One status, we in the NCAA believe that there is now a level playing field for all shades of investors to tap into the emerging business opportunities in Nigeria’s aviation sector that will pro­vide a value chain for the in­dustry,” Adeyileka said.
“Our industry has once again received a vote of con­fidence and global recogni­tion. The Nigerian aviation industry has entered a phase where the preceding growth in the industry should enter a crescendo with the atten­dant upswing in business. Investors will now have confidence in us,” he added.
 

Cat-1: Nigeria forecasts leap in FDI inflow