Nigeria’s aviation sector witnessed substantial improvements in 2018 in both air passenger traffic and cargo movements. Figures from the Federal Airport Authorities of Nigeria show that the number of passengers through Nigerian airports stood at 15.2 million in 20181, about 13.4 percent increase from the 13.4 million passengers in 20172. The total cargo movement stood at 245.89 million kilograms compared to 161.80 million kilograms recorded in 2017. With improvements in infrastructure, launch of new aircrafts by air operators, full-capacity schedule flight services, improved regulation, and less inference from the government in 20183, the sector attracted more customers and ultimately garnered more revenue from the sales of tickets. By implication, these improvements in the industry bolstered the remarkable sectoral annual real growth rate which grew from 1.83 percent in 2017 to 20.7 percent in 20184. Despite the improvements, there is need to create tax incentives that can attract investors that would invest in airport infrastructure upgrade and continuous maintenance to help unlock the full potential of the Nigerian airline industry.
Macroeconomic Report & Economic Updates

April 8, 2019
Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 11)
Nigeria’s aviation sector witnessed substantial improvements in 2018 in both air passenger traffic and cargo movements. Figures from the Federal Airport Authorities of Nigeria show that the number of passengers through Nigerian airports stood at 15.2 million in 20181, about 13.4 percent increase from the 13.4 million passengers in 20172. The total cargo movement stood […]
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Regional Trade For Inclusive Development In West Africa
This
study examines the potential of regional trade in facilitating the achievement
of inclusive development in the West African region. It employs descriptive
analysis to examine the nature, composition and dimension of ECOWAS trade within
the group and with the rest of the world, vis--vis three other Regional
Economic Communities (RECs) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). From the preliminary
study, it can be observed that the growth rate of West African economies is
increasing, but the rising economic growth does not translate to improvement in
inclusive development, as there was no significant reduction in poverty levels in
the region. Further evidence reveals that extra-regional trade of the region is
increasing at a very high rate, and also at a disproportionate rate with
intra-regional trade, compared with SADC. This indicates the existence of
opportunity to boost regional trade for inclusive development through
conversion of part of the extra-regional trade into regional trade.