The 35th Airports Council International (ACI) Africa Annual General Assembly, Board and Committees Meetings, Regional Conference and Exhibition kicked off in Abuja, Nigeria, with over 500 airport professionals, policymakers, aviation experts, technology providers, and industry stakeholders in attendance. The event, themed "Next-Gen Airports: Driving Performance and Resilience," focuses on the future of airport development in Africa amid growing demands for financial sustainability, operational efficiency, digitalization, resilience, and improved passenger experience.
The conference was officially declared open by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, on Tuesday. The gathering provides Nigeria with an opportunity to showcase developments across its airport network and examine the progress and challenges confronting the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) under its Managing Director, Olubunmi Kuku. Several airlines have resumed operations in Nigeria since Keyamo assumed office, with more expected to return to the Nigerian market.
Secretary-General of ACI Africa, Ali Tounsi, identified financial viability and a rapidly changing operating environment as two major challenges facing airports across the continent. About 80 percent of African airports are not financially efficient, raising concerns about their ability to generate sufficient revenue to sustain infrastructure, technology, safety, security, and passenger services. Digitalization, natural catastrophes, accidents, environmental changes, skills, and human resources are factors that airport operators must increasingly prepare for.
Tounsi stressed that the future of African airports cannot be reduced to infrastructure or funding alone, noting that digitalization, environmental issues, skills, people, and preparedness would all shape the next generation of airports. The issues are particularly relevant to Nigeria, which is currently undergoing significant airport infrastructure renewal. Under Kuku, FAAN has focused on runway rehabilitation, airfield lighting, terminal facilities, and other safety-critical infrastructure across the country.
FAAN's Managing Director, Olubunmi Kuku, said the gathering is not merely a conference title but a strategic mandate, a call to action that reflects the journey they are collectively undertaking as a continent. She informed that Africa accounts for only about one percent of global air traffic despite having 18 percent of the world's population, while load factors remain below global averages and the financial viability of African airlines remains fragile.
Kuku identified funding constraints, infrastructure deficits, high operating costs, fragmented connectivity, and pressure to maintain low airport charges while providing world-class facilities as some of the major challenges confronting the sector. In Nigeria alone, with a population exceeding 220 million, approximately 19.5 million passengers are recorded annually across 28 airports. The conference brings together airport operators and industry experts at a time when African aviation faces questions around financing, infrastructure, technology, environmental sustainability, resilience, and human capacity.
FAAN Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection and Chairman of the Local Organizing Committee, Henry Agbebire, urged the media to focus beyond the ceremonies and personalities associated with the conference and examine the substantive issues confronting African airports. The emphasis is significant as the conference aims to address the challenges and opportunities in African aviation, shaping the future of airport development on the continent.
Key points
- The 35th ACI Africa Annual General Assembly focuses on the future of airport development in Africa.
- Financial viability and a rapidly changing operating environment are major challenges facing African airports.
- The conference aims to address the challenges and opportunities in African aviation.
