Ethiopian Airlines is the preferred bidder for Nigeria Air, the federal government said Friday, as it prepares for the commencement of operations of Nigeria’s new national carrier. Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika said at a press briefing in Abuja that Nigeria Air will launch with a shuttle service between Abuja and Lagos to establish a new comfortable, reliable and affordable travel between the two major airports and that other domestic destinations will follow thereafter. Ethiopian Airlines will own 49 per cent equity, the federal government will control five per cent equity, while a consortium of three Nigerian investors (MRS, SAHCO and…

Nigeria’s national carrier, Nigeria Air Limited, says it is seeking to fill up diverse positions in the organisation. The airline said this in a statement on Friday. The national carrier said it will be “launching shortly with Boeing 737-800 (NG) aircraft, followed thereafter with B787 aircraft for international operations”. “The new airline will be owned by a Nigerian private investor consortium together with a 5 percent federal government holding, including Ethiopian Airline’s shareholding,” the company said. Therefore, Nigeria Air said it is now recruiting qualified and experienced Boeing 737 captains, first officers, senior cabin crew and cabin crew, and engineers…

$1.5 billion Lekki port built by China Harbor Engineering Co Will be West Africa’s biggest port, cut waiting times offshore Nigeria is betting a deep sea port set to open early next year will help revive an economy grappling with soaring inflation, stagnating growth and slumping foreign investment. Cargo ships currently wait as much as a month offshore before unloading cargo in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial hub. But the planned opening in March of the Lekki Deep Sea Port, on the eastern edge of the city, has the potential to slash cargo wait times to two days, Mohammed Bello-Koko, managing director…

Francis Eze spent nearly a decade at one of Nigeria’s biggest banks working for a salary far lower than the one he’d negotiated in his interview. As a bachelor and then as a newlywed, he found a way to manage on a tighter budget. His wife, a nurse, had long told him about colleagues at her hospital who had been recruited to move abroad but Eze wasn’t interested. Then with private school fees for two children coming due this year, the pair joined the flood of skilled Nigerians leaving the country amid a plummeting naira and a stagnating economy. “I…