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Aerotropolis will generate N100b annually – Oduah

By BusinessNews Staff on December 6, 2013

Aviation Minister, Mrs. Stella Oduah, has declared that the Nigeria Aerotropolis project will generate an estimated N100 billion annually for the country.

She also disclosed that the United State, China, Turkey and other European countries have shown interest in the Aerotropolis project.

The Minister said that the project will provide at least 10 million jobs for Nigerians, especially the youth, in the first two years of its take-off.

The Minister spoke during the Public Hearing organised by the House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee investigating the FCT Land Swap in Abuja.

The Federal Ministry of Aviation is participating in the land swap for the Abuja Aerotropolis project.

The minister explained that the projects which will be sited in Abuja and other major international airports across the country, has a value chain with the potential to transform the Nigerian economy and the living standards of the rural farmers through perishable cargo exports.

Explaining further, she said that the initiative is private-sector driven with 20 per cent equity holding by government through the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), adding that value chains would span the agricultural, health, manufacturing, culture and tourism sectors of the economy.

Already, she said investors from Nigeria, the USA, China, Turkey and other European countries have embraced the initiative and that the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) has endorsed the Abuja Aerotropolis for which documentation is being finalised for the land acquisition.

Oduah further disclosed that that the FCT has already incorporated the Aerotropolis project into its development master plan.

She equally allayed fears that compensation will not be paid on the land acquired, saying while the land would be acquired at the going commercial value, all due compensation would also be paid promptly.

However, she stressed that the greatest compensation Nigerians will get from the initiative will come in the form of millions of jobs that will be created for the teeming unemployed youth population.

According to Oduah, ‘’The development of airport cities (aerotropolis) is a 21`st century phenomenon that is gaining ground all over the world. It is no longer fashionable to have an International Airport without the support facilities and amenities such as shopping arcades, hotels, packaging industries, Residential Estates, modern airline offices and recreational facilities. The proposed aerotropolis will definitely boost the Nigerian economy and generate the much-needed employment for our teeming youth”

[Daily Independent]

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