PM says talks with Nigerian airline for direct flights “going well”

Prime Minister Mia Mottley has confirmed that government officials are engaged in discussions with Nigerian airline Air Peace – a key investor in the soon-to-be-relaunched regional carrier LIAT – to establish direct flights to Barbados. The talks, which took place as recently as Wednesday, are being seen as a promising step towards strengthening transport links between the two regions.

While Mottley did not provide a timeline on when a formal agreement might be reached, she expressed confidence that the negotiations would prove successful. She highlighted the importance of air connectivity in facilitating not just trade in goods and services, but also the movement of people.

“I think we are much closer to seeing that now happen,” she told journalists on Friday at the 31st African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) Annual Meetings in Nassau.

“There are charters that are being discussed and my own officials met with Air Peace up to day before yesterday, and with our tourism people, to be able to see how we can have that linkage move, because once we start to create that link the rest is history,” she said.

However, the prime minister was wary about offering predictions or promises about when the flight plan would be finalised.

“Suffice it to say that the discussions are going on well, the regulatory authorities have to do what they have to do now, because none of us are regulatory authorities. And once that’s done, we’ll get the reports and then at the governmental levels, it is for us to determine how we promote and get the market going.”

Earlier this month, acting chief operating officer of the Afreximbank’s CARICOM Office, Okechukwu Ihejirika told Barbados TODAY that Nigeria had approved the airline’s plan to operate direct commercial flights to Barbados but the launch timeline was still unclear. He had said that the West African nation’s authorities had cleared the airline for takeoff from either Lagos or Abuja, but work to approve the flights was needed on the Barbadian side.

On Friday, Mottley explained how she envisioned the movement of people once flights began.

“We see it as basically being a hub. If they come from Lagos, they will hub and corral people in West Africa and East Africa wanting to come to the Caribbean. And similarly, if they come to Barbados, then they can, through LIAT or whatever, move other people into the region. So that’s what we’re looking at,” she said. “Air Peace has made an investment with Antigua in LIAT 2020, so they will be well placed to also have the hub-and-spoke approach if it can come off the ground.”

Mottley suggested that there is already a Barbadian connection to African culture, though marketing would be required to generate sufficient interest in flights.

“How many people in Barbados were watching Nollywood movies before you knew about Afreximbank? Every store in Swan Street, and on St Michael’s Row, etcetera, were selling them. So there’s already a strong connection and connectivity. And when people get to realise, ‘wait, they eat the same food as we, they like the same pepper that we like’, all those things come to help create [interest],” she said.

“Anything you want to sell, you’ve got to market first if people must know about it, and people must be able to afford it, and people must feel that there’s value in it. We’re doing all the work to help create that, but we may need more direct marketing on both sides.”

The PM also underscored the importance of improving regional trade flows, expressing hope that goods would no longer have to be routed via the northern airports. She pointed to opportunities arising from the CARICOM Single Market and Economy and the African Continental Free Trade Area.

Mottley also called for more Caribbean companies to invest in Africa “in a more aggressive” way, citing the example of regional financial giants like Sagicor having already established a presence in North America.

She said: “Republic Bank has over 50 branches in Ghana. Since we established our Embassy in Ghana, we’ve had so many Barbadian companies – Goddard Enterprises Limited, large companies, small companies – go to not just Ghana but to go to Kenya, to go to Rwanda, to go to Botswana, looking at the opportunities for them to be able to expand. And these are the markets that really are going to make a difference.

“Sagicor has done exceptionally well going north. Sagicor has dominated the Caribbean as a financial services company, but it is also widely established in the US and in the Toronto Stock Exchange. I’d love to see Sagicor move into Africa in an aggressive way. And there are other financial institutions in the region that can do so.”

Mottley argued that the presence of regional financial institutions in African markets would help provide comfort and facilitate investment by other Caribbean companies. 

“When the financial institutions go and establish, the companies with whom they have relationships feel more comfortable going into those countries because they . . . have the relationships and know that their money at least will be reasonably protected,” she said.

Mottley’s comments came against the backdrop of the Afreximbank Annual Meetings – held for the first time in the Caribbean – which brought together policymakers, bankers and business leaders to discuss strengthening economic ties between Africa and the Caribbean. The three-day event ended on Friday.

Intra-regional trade and investment has been a key focus area for Afreximbank, which disbursed over $49 billion in support of African trade last year. The bank has been actively working to facilitate greater exchange between the continent and the Caribbean, including through the establishment of its CARICOM Office in Barbados last August.

This week, Afreximbank inked its first deals with the Barbadian private sector which will see the financier pumping US$90 ($180 million) into the construction of a Hyatt hotel on Bay Street and providing a further US$10 million ($20 million) in trade finance for Rock Hard Cement’s expansion. Both Afreximbank deals were signed by prominent businessman Mark Maloney.

dawneparris@barbadostoday.bb