Global aviation body commends Keyamo, scores Nigeria high for complying with Cape Town convention
Global organization, Aviation Working Group (AWG), has commended the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, for the decision of the federal government to fully comply with the Cape Town Convention by signing the practice direction on dry-leasing of aircraft.
In a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Communication to the Minister, Tunde Moshood, AWG reacted swiftly to the minister’s efforts on time, effort and skill deployed to ensure growth of the sector, scored the country high and adjusted the global score/rating of Nigeria on her compliance status from 49 to 70.5.
AWG comprises major aviation manufacturers, leasing companies and financial institutions that contribute to the development of policies, laws and regulations that facilitate advanced international aviation financing and leasing.
The Ministry further disclosed, “This is the largest score Nigeria has ever attained to give comfort to financiers and the leasing world. There is also the potential for further increase in the next few weeks, as the minister has directed the NCAA to immediately adjust its administrative rules called IDERA to also fully align with the Convention to further boost the confidence of financiers and lessors across the world.
“In an email received this evening, the Aviation Working Group in London and New York commended the Aviation Minister and his team for the ‘time, effort and skill’ they put in the last few months into making this a reality.
“They also said they are poised to further increase the score once Nigeria adjusts its administrative rules in the next few weeks and the courts actually begin to apply the practice direction,” it said.
With the legal backing to the compliance with the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment 2001, known as Cape Town Convention, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Keyamo, has now opened the opportunity for Nigerian airlines to easily acquire aircraft and compete effectively with others in the world.
The airlines said the minister had reached a milestone in the effort to make Nigerian carriers lease aircraft at cheaper cost and also to make lessors rescind the blacklist of Nigerian operators on dry lease of equipment.
AWG by increasing the rating of Nigeria, the statement stressed, has indicated the impact made by the Federal Government by signing the practice direction on the Cape Town Convention.
