The second edition of Aviation and Cargo Conference (CHINET) is to hold from Sept. 7 to Sept. 8.
Mr Ikechi Uko, organiser of the conference, said this in a statement on Monday.
Uko also said that conference would engage experts who would help exporters take advantage of the emerging opportunities at the airports, to grow export capabilities.
He said the event had been broken into three sections to address: “The Role of Insurance in Aviation”; “The inherent Opportunities of Cargo Airports to Support Export in Nigeria” and “The Regulation of Air Cargo in Nigeria”.
“The session on airports will give opportunity to the cargo airports in Nigeria to make presentations on their capacities and inherent opportunities in the airports.
“In 2022, over six new cargo airports have opened or about to open across the country, mostly owned by states. We will be addressing the enterprise plans for these airports and how they grow Aviacargo using their business plan.
“The 2022 edition will have foreign participants for the first time.
“This year’s event with the theme: “The Role of Insurance and Regulation in Growing Aviation and Cargo Business in Nigeria”, is expected to build on the successes recorded at the last event and also to address the challenges thrown up during the last conference,” he said.
According to Uko, the conference is such that brings exporters, cargo managers, logistics firms, airlines, airport, customs, insurance firms and everyone in the aviation and cargo ecosystem to chart a pathway that enables Nigerians to export more through airports.
“We learnt a lot from the last event, and we are planning to work on the observed issues to help improve the situation.
“We have already engaged stakeholders to find a profitable route to growing and scaling the aviacargo value chain in Nigeria through the airports.
“The last communique threw up many challenges and observations which will be addressed at the year’s event.
“It was observed that Nigeria is still categorised as a high risk country for aviation.
“The insurance premiums for airlines operating in Nigeria are higher than in other countries, this increases the cost of doing aviation business in Nigeria,” he said.
According to him, stakeholders said that the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) should fine-tune their tier-based proposal for insurance companies.
This, he, noted would help to determine their risk appetite based on the capital they deployed for business.
He said it was also suggested that insurance practitioners should start to specialise for improved technical knowledge and robust underwriting of aviation policies.
He recalled that stakeholders at the first edition of Chinet, noted that Nigerian laws on cargo exportation and importation were not in tandem with the development around the world.
“He said this was giving investors massive challenge and was killing cargo exportation in the country.
“Moreso, over regulation in Nigeria’s export environment is inhibiting the growth of the sector.
“Insurance is an integral aspect of any business ecosystem and it plays a vital role in mitigating the inherent risks associated with running the business, especially as it relates to aviation and cargo.
“Nigerian airlines have been a victim of high insurance premium due to some factors bedevilling the aviation sector.
“Also, there is growing complaints of exploitation of airlines by Nigerian insurance companies.
“Nigerian airlines alleged that the law preventing them from using foreign insurers is prohibitive and now a weapon of intimidation by Nigerian Insurers who lack the capacity to insure brand new aircraft but charge high premium,” he said.
Uko noted that it was alleged that Nigerian airlines pay the highest premiums in Africa.
He said the role of air accidents and investigations on high insurance premiums would be examined and addressed.
Uko congratulated Chief Babajide Olatunde-Agbeja of BOFF &Co Insurance Brokers on his Election as the new President of the African insurances Brokers Association AIBA.
Olatunde-Agbeja, a co-partner for the Aviation and Cargo Conference is a thorough bred insurance guru of many years and an experienced aviation insurance expert.
