Nigeria’s Rating Soars After Compliance With Cape Town Convention

 …Considers Safe For Aircraft Leasing

LAGOS – Barely a week after Nigeria complied with the Cape Town Convention on dry-leasing of aircraft by preparing and signing the Practice Direction, the coun­try’s global rating status has increased to 70.5 from 49 points, Mr. Festus Keyamo, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, has said.

A statement by Mr. Tunde Moshood, Special Adviser, Media and Communi­cations to Keyamo, said that this was contained in an email by Aviation Working Group in London and New York to the ministry.

The Aviation Working Group is co-chaired by Boeing and Air­bus on Wednesday.

A copy of the email obtained by journalists indicated that the letter was signed by Jeffrey Wool, the Secretary General, Aviation Working Group.

The statement hinted that this was the largest score the country had ever attained till date to give comfort to financiers and the leas­ing world.

Keyamo explained that the country also had the potential for further increase in the next few weeks, stressing that he had di­rected the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to immediate­ly adjust its administrative rules called IDERA to also fully align with the convention to further boost the confidence of financiers and lessors across the world.

The letter reads in part: “Thank you (and your colleagues) for the time, effort and skill over the past months on the Practice Direction, issued late last week.

“Based on that important le­gal development, AWG has swift­ly and materially increased the Nigeria CTC compliance index score from 49 to 70.5.

“They also said they are poised for further increase the score once Nigeria adjusts its administrative rules in the next few weeks and the courts actually begin to apply the Practice Direction.”