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| Nigeria Oil Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke’s Son, Ugonna Madueke Onboard Jet |
The Managing Director of Guarantee Trust Bank Mr Segun Agbaje, has said private jets in Nigeria are worth $3.75 billion. He added that there are over 150 private jets owned by high networth individuals in the country.
Agbaje said each category of jet costs $25m, which carries both local and international registrations.
He spoke at the Nigerian Business Aviation Conference 2013 with the theme: ‘The Emerging Market in Business Aviation organised by the Evergreen Apple Nigeria in Lagos.
Agbaje said the most popular jets among Nigerian billionaires are Gulfstream, Bombardier, Global Express, Hawker Legacy and Dassault Falcon.
Most of the jets, according to Agbaje, are imported from the United States of America, Canada, Europe, Brazil and South Africa.
He noted that banks in the country are yet to invest in aviation industry because of attendant risks involved with commercial aviation.
He added: “Aircraft financing is a way to deepening banking relationship with top private banking customers and corporate organisations, but there are some challenges in the financial institutions as most of us don’t realise yet the importance of support for the industry. Nigeria provides a huge opportunity for development in aircraft manufacturing industry.
“Risks and problems associated with commercial aviation is one of the problems confronting the sector. However, most financial institution will prefer to support business aviation at the expense of commercial aviation. Business aviation has less risks when compared to commercial aviation.”
The International Sales Manager, Trevor Esling, described the Nigerian market as a big one in the global aviation industry, saying that the industry is developing at a very high speed.
Esling said just like other aircraft manufacturers in the globe, Gulfstream was in the country to tap into the potential in the sector with the supply of good and modern aircraft to interested parties in the sector.
The Vice-President, Sales and Marketing, Embraer Aircraft Manufacturing Company, Colin Stevens, said the company was already carrying out training for some Nigerian engineers.
He said this was meant to support the industry and operators of their aircraft.
He exuded confidence in the Nigerian aviation industry, stressing that the optimism of Embraer management prompted it to invest in the sector.
“We are very optimistic of the Nigerian market, which is why we are investing in it. This is a market that has potential to grow,” he said
Culled from The Nationonline
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