Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika announced on Thursday that Nigeria is working towards releasing funds from foreign airlines’ ticket sales, which have been held up due to a shortage of dollars in the country.
Some payments have already been made. The shortage of dollars has created difficulties for foreign airlines that sold tickets in the Nigerian naira to retrieve their funds from the country.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) reported that Nigeria is withholding $743 million in revenue earned by international carriers operating in the country, the highest amount owed by any nation.
Sirika stated that Qatar Airways has $201 million blocked, while IATA airlines are owed $216 million. Emirates Airlines has retrieved most of its funds from Nigeria but still has around $35 million to be released.
Sirika did not provide a specific timeline for the release of the trapped funds but assured reporters that efforts were being made to secure their release. In February, President Muhammadu Buhari directed the central bank to increase the amount of foreign currency allocated to Dubai’s Emirates after the airline suspended flights to and from Nigeria due to its inability to repatriate funds.
Nigeria’s biggest foreign exchange earner is oil, but crude theft in the Niger Delta and years of underinvestment have affected production and strained government finances.