Avolta raises investment in Nigeria Duty Free airport stores

Avolta, a Swiss-based travel retail company which operates duty-free and duty-paid shops and convenience stores in airports across the world has disclosed that it has considerably increased its investments in Nigeria’s aviation industry since first opening in 2015.

Abdeslam Agzoul, CEO for Avolta, Middle East and Africa who disclosed this during the official inauguration of its duty-free stores at the new terminal of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, (MMIA) Lagos said the investments include its duty-free stores, innovations, infrastructures and products.

Agzoul said the company which has operated in Nigeria since 2015 has stores at Lagos and Abuja airports.

He also disclosed that the company has also invested in training its personnel and brought to Nigeria, international and highly known brands in perfume, cosmetics, alcohol, food, fashion and other categories.

He expressed his excitement about its newly launched stores, adding that the new generation store integrates the latest technology such as the self-checkout tools which facilitate sales and purchases for the customers.

During his speech, Agzoul thanked the company’s local partner, Olivier Meyer of Marport Services Nigeria Ltd.

On the company’s Destination 2027 strategy, he said, “We have a strategy called ‘Destination 2027’ and one of its pillars is the travel retail customer focus. We aim to be customer-centric.

“We have over 50 staff in Nigeria. We have very young staff. We want to strengthen our presence here in Nigeria and in Africa. Nigeria is one of the top three economies in Africa and for us, it is an opportunity to expand the business in the airport together with the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to capture the maximum benefits for Nigeria,” Agzoul explained.

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He said in Nigeria, air passenger traffic is growing and Avolta wants to be a part of the growth and the change in customer behaviour.

He added that this was why the company is bringing in new brands and products that meet the expectations of the air passengers.

Agzoul said Avolta has more than 73 country presence with 5,100 outlets all over the world.

Also speaking at the event, Olubunmi Oluwaseun Kuku, the managing director of FAAN said the event marks a remarkable journey in the growth of FAAN, noting that she was delighted to see the level of investments springing up at the airport.

Kuku said the duty-free store with international standards and encouraged the company to sustain the standard.

She commended Avolta for leveraging technology and innovation to improve passenger experience.

She also assured that FAAN is committed to making the airports an investment and business-friendly environment.

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha is the Aviation Correspondent at BusinessDay Media Limited, publishers of BusinessDay Newspapers. She is also the Deputy Editor, BusinessDay Weekender Magazine, the Saturday Weekend edition of BusinessDay. She holds a BSC in Mass Communication from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka and a Masters degree in Marketing at the University of Lagos. As the lead writer on the aviation desk, Ifeoma is responsible and in charge of the three weekly aviation and travel pages in BusinessDay and BDSunday. She also overseas and edits all pages of BusinessDay Saturday Weekender. She has written various investigative, features and news stories in aviation and business related issues and has been severally nominated for award in the category of Aviation Writer of the Year by the Nigeria Media Nite-Out awards; one of the Nigeria’s most prestigious media awards ceremonies. Ifeoma is a one-time winner of the prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Award under the 'Aviation Writer of the Year' Category. She is the 2025 Eloy Award winner under the Print Media Journalist category. She has undergone several journalism trainings by various prestigious organisations. Ifeoma is also a fellow of the Female Reporters Leadership Fellowship of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism.