Chinet 22 to Focus on Role of Cargo Airports, Insurance and Finance

The 2022 edition of Chinet Aviation and Cargo conference will focus attention on 6 broad areas to be discussed over 2 days.

1. The role of Cargo Airports in the Growth of Aviacargo and Exports in Nigeria.

2. The Development of a National Aviacargo Master Plan for Nigeria

3. The Role of Insurance in the growth of Aviation and Cargo in Nigeria

4. The Role of Insurance regulation in growing Aviation and Cargo in Nigeria

5. The Impact of Accident Investigation on the growth of Aviation and Cargo in Nigeria

6. Financing exports, Aviation and Cargo Business in Nigeria.

One to the biggest obstacles to the growth of exports from Nigeria is logistics. Nigerian exports arrive the markets more expensive than competitors because of logistics cost and associated charges.

The second edition of Chinet will hold on the 7th and 8th of September 2022 in Lagos. This year’s event with the theme: “The Role of Insurance and Regulation in Growing Exports, Aviation and Cargo Business in Nigeria”, is expected to build on the successes recorded at the last event and also address the challenges thrown up during the last conference.

The Federal Government through the Ministry of Aviation has designated some cargo airports for concessioning. This is in recognition of the lack of viability of these airports presently.

Last year, at Chinet Ogun State Commissioner of Finance presented the Business Plan for Ogun Cargo Airport and it has been built and will soon be commissioned. This is a big success story from last year.

It is expected that the session on airports will give all the other cargo airports in Nigeria an opportunity to make presentations on their capacities and inherent viability prospects for the airports.

In 2022 over 6 new cargo airports have opened or about to open across the country most owned by states. What is the enterprise plans for these airports? How will they grow Aviacargo using their Business Plan? Cargo airports were built with no warehouses and facilities for cargo.

The staccato development of cargo airports has led to the demand for a National Aviacargo Master Plan either by the Federal Government or by the state and regional airports in order to increase the uptake of Aviacargo in Nigeria.

The Aviacargo industry in Nigeria is almost non-existent or at the lowest stage of development. This is according to stakeholders as Nigeria still brings in more tonnes in a week than it exports in a month.

Almost all domestic cargo is road bound. There is a need to change the scenario by integrating the airports to the markets. It was observed that Nigeria is still categorized as a high risk country for aviation.

The insurance premiums for airlines operating in Nigeria are higher than in other country. This increases the cost of doing aviation business in Nigeria.

Furthermore, stakeholders opined that the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) should fine-tune their tier-based proposal for insurance companies so that their risk appetite will be determined by the capital they deploy for business.

And insurance practitioners should start to specialize for improved technical knowledge and robust underwriting of aviation policies.

Heavyweights in the insurance business led by Chief Babajide Olatunde-Agbeja of BOFF & Co Insurance Brokers, the new President of the African Insurance Brokers Association, AIBA have been lined up to discuss the identified issues.

The Executives of leading insurance companies and top insurance brokers are expected to join the National Insurance Commission, NAICOM to discuss the roles of the different components of insurance in the development of aviation in Nigeria.

Chief Olatunde-Agbeja is a thorough bred insurance guru of many years and an experienced aviation insurance expert. The insurance session will be driven by two lead speakers and discussants of the highest calibre. This will be the most robust discussion on insurance and aviation in Nigeria.

Airline executives will be on hand to tackle the insurance gurus in what promises to be an educative session. Nigerian airlines have been a victim of high insurance premium due to some factors bedeviling the aviation sector.

There is growing complaints of exploitation of Airlines by Nigerian insurance companies. Nigerian airlines allege that the law preventing Nigerian airlines from using foreign insurers is prohibitive and is now a weapon of intimidation by Nigerian insurers who lack the capacity to insure a brand new aircraft but charge high premium.

It is alleged that Nigerian airlines pay the highest premiums in Africa. The role of air accidents and investigations on high insurance premiums will be examined and addressed.

In addition, stakeholders at the first edition of Chinet noted that Nigerian laws on cargo exportation and importation are not in tandem with the development around the world. This is giving investors a massive challenge and is killing cargo exportation in the country. More so, over regulation in Nigeria’s export environment is inhibiting the growth of the sector.

Chinet Aviation Cargo Conference is an annual conference that brings exporters, cargo managers, logistics firms, airlines, airport, customs, insurance firms and everyone in the aviation and cargo ecosystem to chart a pathway that enables Nigerians to export more through airports.

According to Ikechi Uko the Publisher of ATQNews, “We learnt a lot from the Last event and are planning to work on the observed issues to help improve the situation. We have already engaged stakeholders to find a profitable route to growing and scaling the Aviacargo value chain in Nigeria through the airports.”

The 2022 Chinet conference will bring experts to help exporters take advantage of the emerging availability of capacity and airports to grow export capabilities.