Emirates Airline reported on Friday that it had “substantial” sums of ticket sales money stranded in Nigeria and has made little headway remitting the monies out of the continent’s largest economy.
Hadi Sirika, Nigeria’s minister of aviation, had earlier told reporters that the Dubai-based airline had gotten the majority of its funding outside of Nigeria but still needed to transfer $35 million.
Emirates declined to disclose the amount stranded in Nigeria, but a representative claimed that the procedure “remains afflicted with frequent delays” and that around half of the backlog was past time for repatriation.
According to the international airline industry group IATA, Nigeria is withholding $743 million in income from foreign carriers operating in the country, the most amount due by any country.
Sirika stated on Thursday that the nation intended to release funds from overseas airline ticket purchases that had been delayed due to a lack of dollars in the nation, but she did not give a timeframe.
Due to severe dollar shortages, many Nigerians and businesses are forced to swap money on the black market, where the value of the naira has been steadily declining.
Emirates’ flights to and from Nigeria were halted in February as a result of the airline’s inability to repatriate funds, and President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the central bank to boost the amount of foreign currency granted to Emirates.
The Emirates spokesperson claimed that the airline had made numerous concerted efforts to resume service to the most populous country in Africa since it had been suspended five months prior, but progress on a resolution had been delayed.
Oil is Nigeria’s main source of foreign cash, but widespread petroleum theft in the Niger Delta and years of underinvestment have lowered output and put pressure on the country’s finances. The largest oil exporter and producer in Africa for a brief period of time last year was Angola, which replaced Nigeria.
