By Chinelo Obogo

Nigeria has exited the list of top nine countries owing $1.4 billion in funds accumulated from tickets sold by foreign airlines.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) reported on Monday that $1.7 billion in airline funds are blocked from repatriation by governments as of the end of October 2024. This, it said, is a small improvement compared to the $1.8 billion reported at the end of April. Nine countries account for 83per cent of the airline industry’s blocked funds, amounting to $1.43 billion with about $1 billion of this figure in African countries. That is about 59per cent of the global tally.

In March this year, IATA revealed that the top five countries which account for 68.0per cent of blocked funds were Nigeria ($812.2 million), Bangladesh ($214.1 million), Algeria ($196.3 million), Pakistan ($188.2 million) and Lebanon ($141.2 million). But in June, the aviation body revealed that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had cleared 98 percent of funds trapped in Nigeria.

IATA’s Director General,  Willie Walsh said, “Over the last six months, we have seen significant reductions in blocked funds in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Algeria and Ethiopia. At the same time, amounts are rising in the XAF /XOF  zones and Mozambique. Bolivia has also emerged as a problem, where repatriating sales revenues is becoming increasingly difficult and unsustainable for airlines. This unfortunate game of ‘whack-a-mole’ is unacceptable.  Governments must remove all barriers for airlines to repatriate their revenues from ticket sales and other activities in accordance with international agreements and treaty obligations.

“No country wants to lose aviation connectivity, which drives economic prosperity. But if airlines cannot repatriate their revenues, they cannot be expected to provide a service. Economies will suffer if connectivity collapses. So, it is in everyone’s interest, including governments, to ensure that airlines can repatriate their funds smoothly.”

Pakistan continues to top the list of blocked funds countries at $311 million, while Bangladesh has seen the amount of blocked funds decrease to $196 million (from $320 million in April).

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