The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), says the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the establishment of an Aviation Leasing Company (ALC) under a Public Private Partnership (PPP).
This is contained in a statement issued by Ifeanyi Nwoko, Acting Head, Media and Publicity, ICRC on Wednesday in Abuja.
Nwoko said the approval was in a bid to inject private sector funds into infrastructure development and boost the nation’s economic growth.
He said FEC also approved the development of an Electronic Civil Registration and Vital Statistics System (eCRVS), a platform that would effectively keep electronic records of births and deaths registrations.
Nwoko said both approvals were given following the issuance of Full Business Case (FBC) compliance certificates by ICRC, the agency statutorily established to regulate PPPs.
He said the ALC, which would be executed by Messrs AJW Consortium as concessionaires, seeks to provide an opportunity for local leases of aircraft to both domestic and international carriers.
“It will also alleviate the problems of aircraft/engine leasing, costly lease rates, and high insurance premium charges to Nigerian airlines.
“It will facilitate the ease of doing business for foreign lessors with Nigerian domestic airlines being a one-stop-shop thereby limiting capital flight and the strong demand on forex,” he said.
Nwoko said the ALC would provide leasing opportunities for Nigerian and African Airlines to boost their fleet size and alleviate the problems of aircraft leasing and high insurance premium charges.
He said it would also provide an alternative to foreign lessors and introduce competition which would relax the terms and conditions currently obtainable, thereby facilitating growth and development.
Nwoko said the project would also create employment opportunities for Nigerians which would have a multiplier effect on the economy.
” The ALC will commence with leasing eight aircraft in its first year of operation.
” The portfolio will increase as it grows to 50 leased aircraft after the seventh year and remain constant at 70 leased aircraft by 2034.
“The ALC then starts to purchase aircraft outright (instead of lease) after approximately seven years, once the portfolio exceeds 50 leased aircraft,” he said.
He said the project was approved with the Federal Ministry of Aviation as grantor.
Nwoko said for the eCRVS N5.3 billion private sector fund would be injected by the concessionaire, Messrs Barnksforte Technologies while the National Population Commission would be the project grantor.
Nwoko said the project seeks to capture and verify births and deaths in Nigeria and provide attestation and verification of certificates to end users on the platform.
“Prior to this, these registrations have been carried out manually, a process that has been characterised by low coverage and inadequate data.
“The private party will Design, Finance, Build, Operate, and Transfer the Project to the government at the end of the concession period of 15 years.”
