By Meletus EZE
Managing Director, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr Saleh Dunoma, says the new terminal building of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NIAI) will be inaugurated before the end of December.
Dunoma gave the assurance during a collaborative meeting between FAAN’s contractors and commercial banks on Tuesday in Lagos.
Dunoma, who was represented by the Director of Engineering, FAAN, Mr Salisu Daura, said that the aviation industry was highly technical and capital intensive.
He said that the sector had recently undergone incisive and extensive transformation aimed at making the nation’s airports comfortable, safe, secure and conducive for commercial purposes.
He said: “We recently inaugurated our new international terminal at Port Harcourt Airport with plans to inaugurate that of Abuja before the end of the year.
“We will inaugurate two other terminals in Kano and Lagos Airports between now and the second quarter of 2019.
“This demonstrates our commitment to investing in infrastructure, safety, security, human capacity development and creating the environment to encourage innovation for efficiency.
“Our revenue lines are growing, we are putting processes and systems in place to enhance efficiency, optimise our human capital and enhance our services delivery around all our airports.
“Though there is room for improvement, we remain committed to our mission and to meeting all our obligations to our various stakeholders.”
Dunoma said several measures had been put in place by FAAN to improve revenue generation and collection.
He said that this had resulted in about five per cent increment in FAAN’s revenue compared to what was generated the same period in 2017.
He said such measures include the ongoing full automation of car parks, cargo operations and other revenue points as well as the reconciliation and renegotiation of outstanding debts to ensure better recoveries.
The FAAN boss said the meeting was in tandem with the Federal Government’s innovative step at ensuring and encouraging better access to funding, especially for Small and Medium scale Enterprises (SMEs).
“The objective of the programme is to develop a financing mechanism, which optimises the cash flow of FAAN and at the same time provides the much-needed support to our contractors.
“This is to enable them access opportunities for working capital enhancement.
“The scope involves working with selected financial institutions, in order to provide liquidity to the major contractors of FAAN through direct and contingent funding,” he said.
Also, the General Manager, Finance Department of FAAN, Mrs Funmilayo Olonisakin, said that the meeting was aimed at improving the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the diversification of the Nigerian economy.
Olonisakin said that some of the participating financial institutions include: First Bank, Fidelity Bank, Zenith Bank, FCMB, Stanbic IBTC, Access Bank, Polaris Bank, Union Bank and Unity Bank.
She said the banks would provide timely loans to contractors rendering numerous services to FAAN with varied terms and conditions.
Olonisakin said that this would enhance efficiency and service delivery at all the airports.
