CBN Completes Payment Of All Verified FX Claims By Foreign Airlines

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced the completion of payments for all verified claims by airlines, adding an additional $64.44 million to foreign aviation firms.

The disclosure came on Tuesday from Hakama Sidi-Ali, the acting director of corporate communications at the CBN.

According to Sidi-Ali, this latest payment brings the total verified sum disbursed to the aviation sector to a substantial $136.73 million.

According to Sidi-Ali, the CBN governor, Olayemi Cardoso and his team are committed and would stop at nothing to ensure that the verified backlog of payments across all other sectors are cleared and confidence restored in the Nigerian FX market.

She also assured that the CBN is working with stakeholders to ensure liquidity improves within the forex market, thereby reducing pressure on the naira — Nigeria’s local currency.

While expressing optimism that the market would respond positively with the latest injection of over $64 million, she admonished actors in the FX market to guard against speculation as such actions could hurt the naira.

Siri-Ali, therefore, urged the public to support the reforms in the FX market, adding that the CBN would continue to promote orderliness and professional conduct by all participants to ensure market forces determine exchange rates.

Foreign airlines have struggled to repatriate their revenues since July 2022, when the total amount hit $464 million.

In an attempt to recover the funds, Emirates Airlines suspended flight operations to Nigeria in November 2022.

British Airways (BA) also closed its inventory to Nigeria in the global distribution system (GDS) — an act that prevented local travel agencies from making bookings from their portals.

Following several meetings by the authorities aimed at addressing the impasse, the CBN released the sum of $265 million to foreign airlines operating in the country to settle outstanding ticket sales.

According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), foreign airlines’ revenue blocked from repatriation by the Nigerian government increased to $743 million from $662 million in January 2023.

IATA, however, said the figure increased to $2.27 billion in April 2023, adding that Nigeria now has the highest amount of unrepatriated airlines’ funds worldwide.