Aviation Stakeholders, NIA, Others Brainstorm on Aircraft Leasing Insurance

*To meet international leases and financiers in January Kasim Sumaina in Abuja

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo on Wednesday held a stakeholder engagement meeting on creating a new partnership between the Nigeria Insurers Association (NIA) and the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) on aircraft leasing.
The meeting, Keyamo said had been convened at the instance of the vice president, who actually compelled him to go and speak with all the stakeholders regarding the issue of aircraft insurance and the demands of international leases and financiers and how to balance that with local content requirements in Nigeria.

Keyamo, who spoke to the press shortly on the sidelines after the closed-door meeting with various stakeholders in Abuja, said: “We have had a very, very robust discussion; very grateful to the leadership of the National Assembly on insurance. They are here, and they actually provided useful support and guidance to all of us regarding how they are also thinking.

“The airline operators of Nigeria, they spoke their minds, the Nigerian Insurance Association, they spoke their minds. And I think we are beginning to understand ourselves.

“We have reached a resolution that there is need for further engagement on this issue, we also have reached a decision that there is need for the Nigerian Insurance Association to further engage international resource and finances to understand their position and their capacity.”

According to Keyamo, “the capacity they have is part of the rebranding of the Nigerian image to the world, and every sector in Nigeria has a duty to rebrand and let the world understand how we are and what we are capable of that came out of this meeting today, and they will be traveling with us to Dublin to meet international financiers who have invited us in January.

“The distinguished members of National Assembly will be there with us. Airline operators will be there with us. And this is a challenge for all of us, all sectors, to rebrand.”

Continuing, he said: ” The chairman of Nicon was great, immense, because he actually opened our eyes to a couple of things that we did not see before. So, gentlemen, that was what discussed on this meeting; it was fruitful.”