Nigeria's airport concession scheme still opposed, and drags on

The prospect of airports in Nigeria being privatised has rumbled on for three years at least, attracting widespread opposition from trades unions in the country.

Now the government, which has benefitted from Chinese loans to provide for infrastructure improvements, is virtually begging the opposition to let a privatisation procedure go ahead, but limited to concessions, possibly with strict time constraints before they are handed back.

What is more - they are promising to add other airports to such a scheme beyond the 'big four'. But the opposition really wants to privatise those loss-makers first, as if being a loss-maker is attractive to an investor.

This report covers some of the laborious events of the past few years and asks, in the light of apparently better handling of the virus pandemic in Africa than elsewhere, whether this might be the time for the opposition to give some ground on this matter.