Press focuses on $743m of foreign airlines funds trapped in Nigeria, others

APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
The report that the International Air Transport Association on Tuesday disclosed that the trapped funds belonging to foreign airlines operating in Nigeria have risen by 12.39 per cent to $743,721,097 in January 2023 from $662m in the corresponding period last year is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Wednesday.
The Punch reports that the International Air Transport Association on Tuesday disclosed that the trapped funds belonging to foreign airlines operating in Nigeria have risen by 12.39 per cent to $743,721,097 in January 2023 from $662m in the corresponding period last year, the PUNCH learnt.
IATA disclosed this in a letter addressed to the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, signed by the Area Manager West and Central Africa, Dr Samson Fatokun, obtained by our correspondent in Abuja.
IATA urged the minister to intervene and ensure the resolution of the issue of airlines’ blocked funds in Nigeria.
“For over a year, Nigeria has been the country with the highest amount of airline-blocked funds in the world. Please find attached the comparative table of airlines’ blocked funds by country.
“Moreover, as of January 2023, airlines’ blocked funds in Nigeria have increased to $743.721.092 from $662m in January 2022 and $549m in December 2022.
While highlighting the social-economic impact of the airline-blocked funds in Nigeria, Fatokun said the increasing backlog of blocked funds of international airlines will impact negatively the foreign direct investment in the country, at a moment the country was expecting investment in the concession of some of its major airports.
He also mentioned that the continue trapped funds violate the Bilateral Air Service Agreement, saying that the country was flaunting its contractual obligations by not facilitating the repatriation of the airlines’ funds.
The newspaper says that the disparity in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, is to further widen due to the incomplete delivery of products to many filling stations, oil marketers stated on Tuesday.
Dealers under the aegis of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, said there had been a lopsided pattern in the distribution of PMS lately, stressing that this would cause scarcity and worsen the price disparity in retail outlets.
They told our correspondent that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, through its NNPC Retail subsidiary, had not been delivering the exact number of trucks of fuel that were meant for independent marketers.
“Here in Port Harcourt, for instance, we have Oando and NNPC Retail, and they have products in some private depots. Master Energy and Liquid Bulk also have products, but there is no volume for independent marketers,” the National Public Relations Officer, IPMAN, Chief Ukadike Chinedu, stated.
He added, “Independent marketers have no volume in all these depots and we have over 3,400 tickets lying and waiting at the NNPC Retail account. This new system is now making independent marketers beg for petroleum products from NNPC Retail.
“It is until NNPC Retail has finished loading products to its own outlets before it would now attend to independent marketers. It has made the independent marketers the third tier in terms of the bulk distribution of petroleum products, which is very incorrect.”
Independent marketers operate about 80 per cent of filling stations nationwide, both in villages and other remote areas, making them the largest downstream distributors of petrol.
Ukadike explained that the recent lopsidedness in products distribution by NNPC Retail “is the problem that leads to price disparity,” adding that “we are now forced to go and buy products from retail outlets and some of these tank farm owners at a very exorbitant price.”
Also commenting on the issue, the National President, IPMAN, Debo Ahmed, said the situation at private depots (coastal depots) was quite worrisome.
The Guardian reports that the silence of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on the trillions of naira it mopped from the financial system continues to cast doubt on the possibility of achieving sufficient naira circulation in the near term, after Monday night’s directive urging banks to comply with the Supreme Court ruling extending the validity of the old banknotes to December 31, 2023.
The statement came days after some banks had started issuing the old notes in their vaults. Some of the banks, The Guardian learnt had exhausted the residual notes in their possession before the CBN directive – a reason majority have none to give as at yesterday when the regulatory directive took effect.
Insider sources disclosed that some bank chiefs used the Supreme Court ruling to release the ‘stranded’ cash in their possession, while they rejected deposits of same old notes.
The Guardian was informed that bank chiefs were already worried about what to do with the notes they collected at the height of the crisis without a clear directive from the regulator.
“The issue was that some banks collected some deposits in old notes at the time CBN was not forthcoming with clear instructions on the proceeds. The court ruling provided an opportunity to dispose of the cash,” the source said.
The Guardian had, after the Supreme Court judgment, reported that CBN was still in possession of a reasonable volume of the old notes but would require sufficient time to sort it for distribution for onward re-issuance.
Apart from a viral and uncomfirmed YouTube video of supposed shred bags of naira, there is no official validation that a part or the entire volume sucked from the system had been destroyed.
The latest official statement of the apex bank on the issue vaguely said the old notes remained legal tenders alongside the new series. There was nothing in the statement that indicated how the bank intends to plug the hole to bring the situation to normalcy.
The newspaper says that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, yesterday, launched a $600 million programme for young Nigerians in the technology and creative sectors with a call on African governments and the private sector to do more to support growth of innovation in Africa.
He spoke at the official unveiling of Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises (i-DICE) Programme in Abuja.
The programme is to support young Nigerians, aged 15 to 35, and who are entrepreneurs in early stages in creative, innovative and technology-enabled ventures.
The programme is to support young Nigerians, aged 15 to 35, and who are entrepreneurs in early stages in creative, innovative and technology-enabled ventures. “I think it is now imperative to commence a coordinated approach towards innovation on the continent, bringing together all stakeholders to coordinate efforts at scaling up investments and building programmes that provide the right enabling environment and produce talent pipelines that support the growth of innovation on the continent,” Osinbajo said in his keynote address.
Under i-DICE, constraints such as access to capital and capacity limitation of startups, would be effectively addressed.
But according to him, more needs to be done to scale up such programmes.
“The government must provide more support for startups and small businesses, and investors must provide more funding. This is why the Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises Programme is important,” he added.
The initiative is supported by funding from the African Development Bank (AfDB) – $170 million; Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) – N70 million and Agence Française de Développement’s–$116 million. There is also Federal Government’s counterpart contribution of $45 million through the Bank of Industry (BOI) loans for qualifying startups.
Osinbajo thanked the development partners for their collaboration.
GIK/APA