By Dickson Omobola
Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, Mrs Olubunmi Kuku, has said the resolution of the dispute between Federal Government and Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited, operator of the Murtala Muhammed Airport Two, MMA2, Lagos, will boost investor confidence in Public-Private Partnership, PPP, aviation projects across the country.
In May, the Federal Executive Council, FEC, settled the over 20 years dispute with Bi-Courtney owned by businessman and lawyer, Wale Babalakin.
The dispute, which spanned multiple administrations, involved several contentious issues, including the control of the domestic terminal, MM1, financial claims against the government and exclusivity rights.
Meanwhile, Kuku, who also said Africa does not need to establish new aviation financing institutions, urged existing financial institutions to create specialised aviation desks that understand the industry’s unique operating environment and provide technical support to stakeholders through project preparation facilities to help develop bankable projects.
She spoke as a panelist during a session titled: ‘Strategic Direction on Aviation Financing and Infrastructure Development,’ at the African Air Transport Convention & Expo 2026, held in Lomé, Togo.
She said: “The one thing I do want to say about successful PPP models is that it’s not just driven by capital availability, but the resilience of institutional credibility, regulatory certainty and project discipline. A lot of the challenges that we have seen are really around project continuity, a market risk that comes into play. If you look at the Nigerian example, I believe that one of the most announced concession projects has been the Bi-Courtney project. It created a lot of noise and conflict. This administration has done quite a bit of work in renegotiating the contract for the concession.
“It has now been resolved at the Federal Executive Council level. What that means is that it provides better investor confidence for those that are looking to drive PPP projects. More importantly, as we start to negotiate these contracts in the future or concession contracts in the future, they are fair to both government and the private sector. In addition, we also want to make sure that there is clarity around management of those concession models.”
On new aviation financing institutions, she said: “I know I have heard just quite a lot of talk from different people around setting up different financing institutions. I strongly do not support that. I’d rather that the existing financing institutions set up specialised desks to understand the aviation environment, and also provide support, if possible.”
The post Bi-Courtney settlement, fair concessions’ll drive aviation investment – FAAN MD appeared first on Vanguard News.