Nigeria’s Central Bank released $265 million to airlines to settle outstanding ticket sales, it said in a statement on Friday.
Airlines have said they have millions trapped in Africa’s most populous nation due to an inability to access the foreign exchange repatriate funds.
Dubai’s Emirates has said it will suspend its service to Nigeria from next month, and other carriers have reportedly cut back their capacity to the country due to the difficulties in repatriating funds.
Nigeria, which gets 90% of its foreign exchange from oil, has struggled with a lack of foreign currency due in part to rampant pipeline theft that has cut oil exports by nearly half a million barrels per day to around 1.4 million barrels per day (bpd).
The International Air Transport Association said that by July Nigeria had blocked airlines from repatriating some $464 million in revenue.
Earlier IATA had warned that failure to restore timely repatriation will hurt Nigeria with reduced air connectivity is proving true with the withdrawal of Emirates from the market.
“Airlines can’t be expected to fly if they can’t realize revenue from ticket sales. Loss of connectivity harms the economy, hurts investor confidence, and impacts jobs and people’s lives. The Government of Nigeria needs to prioritize the release of funds before more damage is done,” IATA said.
