Nigeria's Minister of Aviation Festus Keyamo used the inaugural African Air Transport Convention and Expo 2026 in Lomé to issue one of the most specific and time-bound commitments yet made by a Nigerian aviation minister on market liberalisation — pledging that Nigeria will streamline permits for African carriers and lead the Banjul Accord Group toward treating West Africa as a unified domestic aviation market within the next 24 months.
Speaking on a high-level panel focused on SAATM implementation and market access, Keyamo framed his commitment as a direct challenge to the pattern of repeated declarations without implementation that has characterised African aviation liberalisation for more than two decades. "We must move from signatures to actual traffic rights. The era of merely signing agreements must give way to practical measures that guarantee unrestricted air connectivity," he told assembled ministers and industry leaders.
The Banjul Accord Group Commitment
The Banjul Accord Group groups Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, Cape Verde, and Liberia. Within SAATM, BAG member states are expected to progressively open their air services markets to each other, creating a single aviation zone for West Africa. Keyamo's commitment to lead the BAG toward unified market treatment within 24 months would directly benefit Air Peace, which is expanding into West African markets with new Bamako and Conakry services launching from August 2026, and would reduce the permit and bilateral negotiation barriers that currently complicate intra-West African aviation.
On Affordability and Cost Reduction
On the panel focused on air transport affordability, Keyamo outlined Nigeria's domestic reform efforts: a 30 per cent discount on statutory fees approved by President Tinubu, a transition toward VAT neutrality on aviation inputs, and an audit of duplicate levies. He described aviation as "an economic enabler, not a revenue collection point" — framing that challenges the multiple agencies extracting charges from the sector to justify their levies in terms of services delivered.
"The real test of our success is no longer how many declarations we adopt, but how many African routes we open, how many restrictions we remove, and how many passengers actually benefit," Keyamo concluded — defining a clear accountability metric and signalling Nigeria's intent to be judged on outcomes rather than commitments at future African aviation forums.
