Keyamo meets AfDB president in Brazzaville, signs letter for $7bn aviation transformation program

Festus Keyamo, Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, has held a high-level dialogue session with the President and Governors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) in Brazzaville, Congo, to discuss investment and growth opportunities under the bank’s $7 billion Integrated Aviation Transformation Programme (IATP).

Keyamo attended the strategic session this morning in his capacity as the newly appointed African Champion of the IATP. During the meeting, he addressed the bank’s leadership on the vast opportunities the $7 billion continental initiative presents for Africa, and specifically for the Nigerian aviation market.

As part of his presentation, the Minister unveiled President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda for the aviation sector.

He specifically highlighted the potentials of Nigeria’s newly approved Aircraft Leasing Company, urging the AfDB to mobilize capital to support the initiative.

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Keyamo explained that Nigeria’s approach can serve as a template for other African nations to emulate. He emphasized that the federal government has already completed the essential groundwork required to enable the takeoff of the leasing company

In response to the presentation, the President of the AfDB expressed delight at the blueprint and gave his firm commitment to ensuring the success of the IATP across Africa, with particular emphasis on its execution in Nigeria.

Following the dialogue session, the Minister officially unveiled the “Country Compact” for Nigeria’s aviation sector. This led directly to a formal signing ceremony of a Letter of Intent (LOI) between the AfDB and the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Under the signed agreement, both the bank and the Nigerian government have committed to working assiduously to operationalize the IATP, marking a collaborative effort to drive the aviation program forward on the continent.

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.