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From Sola Ojo, Abuja
At a time when African airlines continue to grapple with high financing costs and ageing fleets, Nigeria is charting a bold course toward affordable aircraft acquisition and sustainable aviation growth. Incidentally, this one of the key components of President Bola Tinubu’s ambitious $1 trillion economy target.
The country’s improved compliance with the Cape Town Convention (CTC), an international treaty designed to make aircraft financing cheaper and more secure, is now offering a glimmer of hope for both operators and investors in Africa’s largest aviation market.
During the Cape Town Convention Africa Event held in Abuja from November 11-12, 2025, stakeholders from across the continent gathered to examine how the treaty can serve as a lever for aviation development in the region.
The forum was jointly organised by the Federal Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC), and the Aviation Working Group (AWG) a global coalition co-chaired by Airbus and Boeing.
In his keynote address, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo (SAN), announced that Nigeria’s Cape Town Convention compliance rating had risen from 70.5 percent to 75.5 percent within one year.
This gain was credited to the operationalisation of the Irrevocable Deregistration and Export Request Authorisation (IDERA) and the issuance of Practice Directions guiding the Federal High Courts on aircraft-related cases.
“This milestone reflects our unwavering commitment to implementing the Convention in both substance and practice. Nigeria is open for business on globally accepted terms,” the minister said.
For Nigeria, this improvement goes beyond numbers, it signals renewed investor confidence in a sector that had long been hampered by legal uncertainty, opaque processes, and inconsistent enforcement of financing agreements.
By aligning with the CTC framework, the government hopes to unlock new financing opportunities for local carriers, many of which currently depend on expensive short-term leases for their fleets.
However, despite these strides, the Nigerian aviation sector remains entangled in structural and institutional challenges that blunt the benefits of the Convention.
Chief among these are weak legal enforcement mechanisms, bureaucratic bottlenecks, and inconsistent judicial interpretation of international agreements.
Until the Practice Directions were signed in September 2024, aircraft financiers had often complained about the difficulty in repossessing assets in default cases, a key reason Nigeria’s compliance rating previously hovered below 50 percent.
This uncertainty has made many global lessors wary of financing Nigerian airlines, leading to higher costs and limited access to modern aircraft.
The Director-General of the NCAA, Capt Chris Najomo succinctly acknowledged these gaps but expressed optimism that the recent legal reforms would change the narrative.
“Legal certainty is inseparable from economic growth. The success of the Cape Town Convention in Nigeria depends on regional and global collaboration.
“Aviation is not confined by borders, and neither should our legal and regulatory frameworks,” he said during the Abuja convention.
He emphasised that while the CTC provides a global standard, its effectiveness depends on domestic institutions, particularly the courts and regulatory bodies (including the NCAA itself), to interpret and enforce it faithfully.
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Another lingering challenge is access to affordable financing. Nigerian carriers, including Air Peace and Ibom Air, often pay higher interest rates than their competitors in Europe or Asia due to the country’s perceived credit risk.
Experts at the forum noted that a more transparent legal environment, backed by consistent court rulings, could gradually change that perception.
Meanwhile, for aviation financiers, the Cape Town Convention offers a simple but transformative assurance: that their investments in aircraft and engines are legally protected, even in cases of default or insolvency.
This protection lowers credit risk, enabling financiers to offer better terms including lower interest rates and longer repayment periods.
The Aviation Working Group’s Secretary General, Jeffrey Wool, described the convention as “the most important business law treaty in commercial law history,” adding that it has reshaped how the aviation industry operates globally.
Wool, who has worked with Nigeria since 1999, said the Abuja meeting reflected Nigeria’s growing role as a regional leader in aviation law reform.
“We must bring together international thinking behind the treaty with national realities, because Nigeria has been a long-term, sustained partner in this process,” Wooo said.
Like many speakers at that event believed, if effectively implemented, the Convention could help Nigerian airlines modernise their fleets, improve safety standards, and boost competitiveness within the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) framework where efficient air connectivity would be central to trade integration.
To this end, it is expected that parties that would drive the type of aviation growth Nigeria deserves must do that in all honesty and rigour, even as dry and wet investors use their tongues to count their teeth in the air space business.
For instance, the Federal Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development would provide policy direction and continuous alignment with global aviation standards.
The Ministry must drive legislative and institutional reforms that make the treaty’s provisions binding and enforceable in practice.
On its part, the NCAA, as the regulator, bears responsibility for oversight, certification, and compliance monitoring, ensuring that airline operations align with both local laws and the Convention’s spirit.
Federal High Courts, through the newly issued Practice Directions, must ensure swift and predictable adjudication of aviation financing cases, fostering confidence among foreign lessors and financiers.
The Aviation Working Group (AWG) is also expected to continue to provide technical guidance and global best practices for the consistent application of the Convention in Nigeria and across Africa.
African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC), expected to promote regional harmonisation, ensuring that African countries adopt and apply the Convention uniformly.
Airlines and Investors in Nigeria must adopt transparent business practices, maintain strong governance, and meet their contractual obligations to sustain investor confidence.
The key takeaway from the convention is that, Nigeria must now consolidate its progress by institutionalising enforcement, training judges and legal practitioners, and raising awareness among aviation stakeholders.
If fully implemented, the Cape Town Convention could mark a turning point for Nigeria, transforming it from a high-risk aviation market to a preferred destination for global financiers.
