Nigeria failed to benefit from the World Bank Group’s $851 financing for air transport infrastructure earmarked for developing nations in 2020 to provide succour for the devastation of the industry by COVID-19 as well as to support projects in the aviation sector.
List of beneficiaries are contained in the Washington-based institution’s ‘Air Transport Annual Report 2020,’ made available to safeflighttips.com yesterday.
The World Bank Group makes the funds available to countries that applied for it to develop facilities in the aviation sector to enhance air safety. These includes the building of airport terminals, perimeter fencing, airport fire cover, airport concession, runway development, among others. Countries such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Bulgaria, Uzbekistan, were beneficiaries of fiscal support.
The last time Nigerian benefited from the World Bank Group support for aviation infrastructure was in 2007 when the global body funded the erection of perimeter fencing at the Abuja and Port Harcourt airports, provision of fire fighting equipment at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos and navigation equipment for the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA).
In the report signed by the Lead Air Transport Specialist, World Bank, Dr. Charles E. Schlumberger, the global body stated that some countries had benefitted from its International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and International Development Association (IDA), including active and completed projects, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), including nine active operations in its investment portfolio and supported 28 advisory mandates.
The World Bank Group explained that many countries have benefitted through its subsidiaries for the development of airport infrastructure in order to enhance safety, including the East African nation, Kenya.
“Three IBRD/IDA lending projects implemented in Kenya, Tonga and Vanuatu closed in full year 2020 with satisfactory outcomes. For instance, the Kenya Transport Sector Support Project enhanced aviation safety and security standards leading to Kenya meeting safety and security standards set by ICAO (the International Civil Aviation Organisation) and Department of Transportation of the USA. Kenya was granted Category 1 status on 27 February 2017 by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), thus allowing direct flights originating from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) to and from the USA.
“In addition, the capacity of the international passenger terminal destroyed in a fire at JKIA in 2013 was restored with project support, through the construction of fully operational international passenger terminal facilities with a combined capacity to handle three million passengers annually.
“It is also worthy to highlight the commencement of the second aviation Reimbursable Advisory Services in Central Asia, which will assist Uzbekistan in the implementation of the ongoing aviation sector restructuring, building on the previous successful results,” the report disclosed.
Reacting to the development, aviation expert and former Chief Executive Officer of Aero Contractors, Captain Ado Sanusi, told safeflighttips.com that Nigeria could have used such funding for aviation infrastructure to develop and upgrade its airport facilities if it had met the funding conditions.
He recalled that when the late Muhammed Yusufu was the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN); Dr. Harold Demuren was Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and he was the Managing Director of NAMA, Nigeria was able to attract the funding from the world body.
“We secured the funding a long time ago to acquire navigational aids, fire cover equipment and perimeter fencing for two airports. Today other countries are benefitting from the funding because they met the given conditions. So we can tap from it. They have lending and non-lending funding and their loans attract very minimal interest rate.
“For example, although Bulgaria cannot be called a third world country but it has benefitted from the World Bank Group support through International Finance Corporation, which assisted the country in upgrading its airports and helping it to concession those airports. With IFC support, Bulgaria will be able to get investors that will become concessionaires of the airports. That is also what we should do, as we plan to concession our airports,” Sanusi said.
The annual report also indicated that in Fiscal Year 2020 (FY2020), World Bank’s Air Transport Portfolio of $851 million represented a decrease by 8.27 per cent, compared with the 2019 amount. This resulted from the pandemic and the closure of airport infrastructure projects.
“The Air Transport segment makes up around 2.15 percent of the WBG’s $39.5 billion transport portfolio. The WBG’s FY2020 Transport portfolio consisted approximately 12.0 percent of the WBG’s active portfolio of $329.2 billion (excluding MIGA (The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency)
“The Air Transport portfolio included a total of 31 lending and non-lending projects or project components through the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and International Development Association (IDA), including active and completed projects. The International Finance Corporation (IFC)’s included nine active operations in its Investment portfolio and supported 28 advisory mandates. MIGA provided three Guarantees for the Air Transport Sector,” the report stated.
