Nigeria is short of requisite skills and policies to drive the aviation sector in the face of opportunities opening up in few months, experts in the aviation sector have said.
The experts have emphasised that adequate manpower and stable policies are key drivers to the six potential investment areas in the aviation sector, some of which may kick-off this year.
The six projects in the roadmap include the concession of the four major airports, establishment of Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) Centre and Aviation leasing company, development of Aerotropolis and cargo/Agro-allied terminals, and the establishment of national carrier.
In March, 2018, the Federal Government unveiled transaction advisers for these six projects in the Aviation Roadmap in line with the Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission (ICRC) guidelines and public procurement act. This implies that there are plans on ground for these projects to commence soon.
“Nigeria needs to be ready to shoulder these huge investments in the aviation sector. With the current deficit of manpower and unfriendly government policies, I do not think these investments will ever be sustainable,” an operator who craved anonymity told BusinessDay.
The operator went on to say that these investments are very capital intensive and if the investors perceive that their investments could be at risk, they may withdraw.
He recalled that between 2015 and 2016, the sector lost over $2 billion in investment from international financiers who wanted a stake in Nigeria air transport sector by building an MRO but the depleting fleet of domestic airlines and inconsistent government policies have halted the investment decision.
The five Civil Aviation Training institutions in Nigeria include the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) Zaria, the International Aviation College, (IAC), Ilorin, International Helicopter Flying School, Enugu, Landover Aviation Training School, Ikeja and Aeroconsult Training School, Ikeja.
BusinessDay’s findings show that NCAT, which is the biggest aviation school in Nigeria, graduates an average of 500 trained personnel yearly, followed by IAC Ilorin, which produces between 60 and 80 pilots yearly. Other schools produce between 150 and 200 trained personnel yearly.
Hadi Siriake, minister of aviation, said that these numbers are not sufficient to address the growing travel market in Nigeria, adding that the country needs trained work force in ICT firms, aerospace manufacturers, MRO, power plants Engineers and mechanics.
Over the next 20 years, Boeing is forecasting that the world would manufacture over 39,600 airplanes valued at more than $5.9 trillion because the total number of aircraft in year 2015 will increase from 22,510 units to 45,240 aircraft by the year 2035.
This will come from the manufacture of 39,620 new units of various types of aircraft worth $5,930 billion. It is predicted that Africa will require 1,150 units valued at $ 170 billion.
Sirika explained that the engineers, ICT experts, pilots, amongst others that would join and participate in the design, manufacturing, operations and maintenance of these aircrafts would be in excess of 1 million people. There will also be additional need for additional aviation infrastructure to service the increasing fleet of aircraft.
The minister raised doubts as to whether the current Nigerian University system or Technical Education system able to train, educate and produce experts and professionals that will participate in this $5.9 trillion dollar marketplace.
Allen Onyema, managing director, Air Peace said that these investments will be successful if only the government remove stringent policies and provide the enabling environment for them to thrive.
Onyema said that before now, major setbacks in the aviation sector were as a result of unfriendly operating environment and he hopes that government can learn from its past mistakes to make these opportunities become reality.
Experts say government to create a right enabling environment for the African Aircraft Leasing Company (AALC), OEM led MRO centre, African Aircraft Spare Parts Company (AASC) and Aggregated Services Solutions provider to be able to list and trade on the NASD OTC, Nigerian Stock Exchange, Aviation Asset Backed Securities (ABS), Enhanced Equipment Trust Certificates and other innovative tradable monetary and debt instruments.
