Abuja: The Sea Empowerment Research Centre (SEREC) has highlighted the critical importance of repositioning Nigeria’s air cargo governance to enhance competitiveness under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), facilitate trade, and drive national economic growth.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, SEREC issued a policy brief, authored by its Head of Research, Dr. Eugene Nweke, which follows a recent tariff adjustment dispute between the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and freight forwarders and air cargo agents. FAAN’s plans to increase air cargo handling and port charges faced strong opposition, leading to a compromise reached on Monday.
Dr. Nweke emphasized that, in the evolving AfCFTA environment, air cargo is pivotal for facilitating high-value, time-sensitive intra-African trade. It supports non-oil exports like agro-produce, pharmaceuticals, and manufactured goods, enhancing Nigeria’s participation in regional value chains and its competitiveness among African aviation hubs.
Globally, air cargo is increasingly recognized as critical trade infrastructure. Dr. Nweke stated that success under AfCFTA will require minimizing logistics costs, ensuring predictability, and operating trusted, secure supply chains. He urged the government to introduce AfCFTA-sensitive safeguards to protect priority export sectors from excessive cost escalation.
He advocated for aviation charges that support regional trade competitiveness and called for air cargo policy to evolve into a strategic enabler of trade, competitiveness, and economic growth. Dr. Nweke suggested that the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development is well-positioned to drive holistic air cargo reform and restore stakeholder confidence.
Dr. Nweke also called for aligning aviation policy with national trade and AfCFTA objectives, noting that current decisions will determine whether Nigeria emerges as a leading AfCFTA air cargo hub or cedes that advantage to competing African economies. He pointed out issues like fragmented governance and inconsistent policy implementation in Nigeria’s air cargo system, which could hamper export diversification and trade expansion.
To address these challenges, he recommended that the Federal Government elevate air cargo to a national trade policy priority, recognizing it as strategic trade infrastructure critical to AfCFTA participation. He emphasized integrating air cargo policy into national trade, export, and logistics strategies and proposed establishing a permanent Air Cargo Policy and Tariff Framework through a National Air Cargo Economic and Trade Facilitation Committee.
This committee, including FAAN, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Customs, airlines, freight forwarders, exporters, and other relevant MDAs, would conduct economic impact assessments and stakeholder validation before tariff adjustments. Dr. Nweke urged the government to operationalize and incentivize the Regulated Air Cargo Agent Regime, linking tariffs to performance and value creation.
He recommended implementing phased and differentiated tariffs, especially for export-oriented and AfCFTA-priority goods, and accelerating digitalization and cargo community systems. Dr. Nweke added that SEREC is committed to providing further technical support, comparative policy analysis, and stakeholder facilitation to advance cargo reforms.