Travellers bear brunt as ECOWAS tax cut stalls in Nigeria

Despite being a principal signatory to a landmark regional agreement aimed at slashing the cost of air travel, Nigeria has failed to implement the mandatory cuts on aviation taxes and charges six months after the treaty’s official enforcement deadline.

The delay has sparked frustration among travellers and sector experts, as airfares in the country continue to hover at record highs while neighbouring nations begin moving forward with the regional directive.

In December 2024, during the 66th Ordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government held in Abuja, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) leaders adopted Supplementary Act A/SA.2/12/24.

The binding act mandated that all 15 member states completely abolish four major aviation taxes—ticket tax, tourism tax, solidarity tax, and foreign travel tax—and implement a 25 percent reduction on core passenger service and security charges.

Following a transition period, the law officially went into effect on January 1, 2026. The regional economic bloc designed the policy after data revealed that West Africa maintains the most expensive airfares globally, with government-imposed taxes and fees eating up 64 percent to 70 percent of a typical ticket price.

However, six months into the implementation window, Nigeria’s aviation sector remains untouched by the tax reliefs. Instead of falling, domestic and international airfares have remained exorbitant, with average one-way domestic flights costing N150,000 to N200,000, showing the absence of tax or charge cuts.

Stakeholders in the aviation sector believe that the delay in implementation is because some governments see this move as one that would impact government revenues, while others say the government’s bureaucratic processes may also have delayed implementation.

Olumide Ohunayo, industry analyst and director of research at Zenith Travels, told BusinessDay that the implication of Nigeria’s failure to implement the tax cut is continuous fare increases and a reduction in passenger numbers.

According to him, the agencies will have only money from ‘absurd’ taxes, but in the long run, there will be reduced revenues to all parties because goods, passengers and revenue generated by all concerned have reduced, including the aviation ecosystem and frequency stagnation.

“Nigeria, being the headquarters of ECOWAS and where the decision was taken, knows the implication of not implementing it. When we have four or five members implementing at the same time, you have put the burden on others to follow,” Ohunayo said.

He stressed that if there are willing partners within the region implementing the tax cuts, this will increase the number of passengers that travel based on appropriate fares that are friendly and can attract more travellers.

“The delay is driven by the legislative process and competing political priorities. Most aviation charges in Nigeria are codified into statutes. To implement the agreed ECOWAS reductions, the national assembly must formally amend the relevant acts,” he said.

Samuel Caulcrick, the former Rector of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) told BusinessDay that supplementary acts are binding at the regional level, but member states are required to transpose them into national law.

“Until NASS does this, agencies like the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) cannot unilaterally reduce the fees. The current pricing instruments remain in force by law.”

According to Caulcrick, the delay in implementing the tax cuts will continue to depress air seat occupancy across the region.

“At current ticket prices, a large section of people within West Africa are effectively priced out of air travel,” he said.

BusinessDay’s findings show that the failure to domesticate the policy is creating disparity within the ECOWAS region. At a recent regional oversight committee meeting in Lomé, it was highlighted that nations like Côte d’Ivoire have already amended their domestic aviation regulations to reflect the 25 percent reduction in charges.

Meanwhile, Nigeria has moved in the opposite direction. Rather than reducing its complex fiscal framework, regulatory bodies have faced severe backlash for attempting to maintain or even introduce parallel aviation levies, directly violating the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) anti-double-taxation guidelines outlined in the treaty.

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) recently introduced a mandatory $11.50 Advance Passenger Information System (APIS) security levy on all international flight tickets originating or terminating in Nigeria.

According to the NCAA, it introduced this charge to streamline airport clearance, upgrade border control systems, and process passenger data prior to arrival. The levy is expected to remain in place for 20 years and is collected by airlines at the point of ticket purchase.

However, aviation analysts note that by failing to comply with Article 4 and Article 5 of the Supplementary Act, Nigeria is directly suppressing air travel demand, squeezing its local carriers, and hindering the free movement of traders and services.

Seyi Adewale, the chief executive officer of Mainstream Cargo Limited, said it is sad that ECOWAS as a body cannot enforce its own regulations, rules, or agreements of its member states.

He noted it further suggests that probably the diligence, rigour, patience, strategy, and skills needed to pull these through member states were lacking.

According to Adewale, the reduction in air travel taxes would significantly affect the revenues of government aviation agencies or parastatals in such a way that they will not be able to meet their financial obligations and possibly responsibilities to airlines and passengers.

“The federal government via the federal ministry of aviation is considering privatising some of the aviation agencies and/ or parastatals so that they can be independent and profit-oriented. If the fees and taxes are cut or capped without critical thought, these agencies or departments may not be attractive to potential investors,” he said.

He also hinted that the ECOWAS-signed air travel reduction may further need to go through each country’s peculiar processes, thereby furthering the need to still canvass, domesticate, legislate, review, or update the Act setting up these agencies with the goal to back these reductions and therefrom give more grants, subventions, or directly fund the affected enterprise.