Some 13 local and foreign companies have indicated serious interest with the submission of bids to be prequalified for the planned concession of Nigeria’s 4 international airports.
This is coming barely 2 months after the federal government opened the bidding process for these airports which includes Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja; Murtala Muhammed Internatıonal Airport, Lagos; Malam Amınu Kano Internatıonal Airport, Kano; and Port Harcourt Internatıonal Airport.
The Independent Concession and Regulatory Commission (ICRC) last week commenced the evaluation of the applications submitted by the companies seeking to be pre-qualified for the airport concession process.
According to Punch, this was made known by the Head of Communications of ICRC, Mrs Manji Yarling, during an interview where she disclosed that 13 companies submitted their request for quotation (RFQs) before the closure of the exercise on October 25.
Yarling revealed that ICRC has commenced the evaluation of the RFQ, but did not disclose how long it would last.
Although she could not give further details of the names of the local and foreign companies that submitted RFQs for the concession, the Director of Communications, Federal Ministry of Aviation, Mr James Odaudu, said the transaction advisers for the concession would give more details at the appropriate time.
However, reports suggest that Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited, operators of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Terminal Two, Lagos, was among the firms that submitted the RFQs for the airport concession programme.
Others include Maevis Nigeria Limited, a former concessionaire with the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, operators of the Singapore’s Changi Airport, operators of France’s Charles de Gaulle Airport, and operators of Ethiopia’s Airport.
The local companies that submitted bids were said to have formed consortia with foreign partners while global reputable airport managers, which also submitted their RFQs, formed alliance with some local partners in order to meet the local content requirement of the Federal Government.
What you should know
The Federal Government had in June 2020, commenced the concession process for 4 new International Airport Terminals selected in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt (PH) and Kano as the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, confirmed the had receipt outline business case certificate of compliance from ICRC for the concession of the 4 airports.
The government in August 2021, listed the eligibility requirements for companies or organizations that want to bid for the concession of the 4 international airport terminals and other related.
These eligibility requirements include full names of firm/consortia, evidence of company registration, ownership structure of bidding entity, audited financial statements, sworn affidavit, Power of Attorney/Board Resolution and in the case of a consortium, evidence in the form of a letter of association agreement.
The Federal Government had said the Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano airports would be concessioned for a minimum of 20 to 30 years.
The aviation workers’ union have continued to kick against the proposed concession despite federal government’s assurance that none of FAAN workers would lose his or her job.
