FAAN Harps On Joint Venture Initiative

Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), says it is considering a joint venture initiative in future investment opportunities because of the problems it encountered in the implementation of the concession agreements with private companies.

The Managing Director of FAAN, George Uriesi who stated this in an interview with newsmen said as far as his agency was concerned, the concession with the private sector had failed.

He explained that FAAN would adopt international standard of engaging the private sector to develop investment opportunities and introduce what is known as commercial hurdles which the intending investor must scale through before they would do business together.

“We are going to engage the private sector the way it is done in other parts of the world.

Any deal beyond the initial check, the deal must offer certain number of years and must meet about four or five other criteria. So, if the deal does not offer the condition we will not go into it.

“If it offers at least 10 per cent rate of return, at least profitability after the first two years and if you test it and proposition does not deliver, you don’t do it,” he added.

The FAAN boss stressed that the agency would move away from concession, saying that the concession failed because its precepts were not followed.

“The second thing now is that we are going to move away from concession.

The problem of the concession is that it has failed. The reason why it has failed is anytime that there is a concession, some influential people will come and hijack the essence of it. The essence of it is not bad, but the way it would be structured will tilt it against the interest of the agency,” he said.

He said that FAAN would move into joint venture relationship so that both parties would become fully involved in the business.

“But the investor cannot extort us anymore because the investor and the agency are both owners of the business so whatever the business makes, we share, not the one where an investor will be exploiting FAAN,” he said.

Reward Akwu