No fewer than 300 delegates and participants from all over Africa and the world are set to arrive in Lagos, Nigeria as the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) hosts this year’s Airport Council International (ACI-Africa), putting the country once more on a pedestal to attract foreign investments.
The 59th ACI-Africa Board and Regional Committees Meetings & Conference and Exhibition will run for six days in Lagos from April 14 – 20, 2018.
FAAN will be hosting global and regional aviation experts and giants of the industry for over a week as knowledge and experiences will be shared, strategies developed, networks formed, and investments attracted.
Saleh Dunoma, managing director, FAAN who made this announcement at Raddisson Blu Hotel in Ikeja at the Pre-ACI briefing and unveiling of the event logo, said that the theme of this year’s conference will be ‘Business Transformation for Sustainable Development of African Airports.’
“Nigeria is currently at the helms of affairs in the African airport industry as I am currently serving as the President of ACI Africa executive board. This is a pioneer achievement for Nigeria as this is the first time in history that this prestigious position will be occupied by a Nigerian. Serving in the capacity as the ACI Africa President has ensured that Nigeria is in the limelight and has afforded Nigeria an advantage in the decision making as it relates to aviation matters in Africa and the world,” Dunoma said.
The managing director explained that Nigeria is currently seeking investments especially in the aviation industry and this conference will give an insight into areas where investments are needed.
Last year, Nigeria signed the agreement to become one of the ACI global training centers, to further advance the goal of human capacity development in FAAN and in Africa. The first training after the agreement was conducted in December 2017 where Nigeria received participants from other African countries.
On achievements through the ACI Dunoma said, “Over the years, ACI Africa had focused on safety as a priority, leading to the initiation of the world wide acknowledged Airport Excellence (APEX) in safety programme. This has recorded great achievements as there has been a drastic decrease in the number of incidents and accidents in Africa.”
He stressed that through ACI’s assistance, Nigeria has gone through successful certification of both Lagos and Abuja Airports and has currently commenced APEX in safety programme of Port Harcourt, Kano, Enugu and Kaduna airports.
He said, “In Nigeria, ACI has been of tremendous assistance in the certification process of the Lagos and Abuja airports through the APEX in safety programme which helped us identify safety gaps in our aerodromes. In recognition of the role played by ACI and in FAAN’s bid to ensure safety in our airports, we have commenced the APEX in safety programme in other of our international Airports namely Port Harcourt, Kano, Enugu and Kaduna airports.
“I am pleased to announce that today is the inaugural day of the week-long APEX in safety review in Port Harcourt which will be closely followed by the APEX review in Kano. The safety reviews for Kaduna and Enugu will be carried out in May of this year. FAAN is engaging a proactive means of mitigating risks and ensuring the overall safety of our passengers,” he said.
Airports Council International (ACI) is a not–for–profit organization representing commercial airports worldwide. Its structure includes five geographical regions, which include Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America-Caribbean, and North America. ACI advances the collective interests of, and acts as the voice of the world’s airports and the communities they serve and promotes professional excellence in airport management and operations.
The African region is composed of 62 members from 47 countries managing 250 airports. The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria has served as a standing member of ACI Africa region with their staff serving in various positions in the Human Resources regional committee, Security/Facilitation regional committee, Economics/Environment regional committee, Safety/Technical Working Groups regional committee, as well as the ACI Africa Regional office.
IFEOMA OKEKE
