Covid-19: Nigeria loses N347.10b to aviation, tourism sector

By Obinna Nnorom

Nigeria has lost  about N347.10 billion to the aviation/tourism sector due to the Covid-19 global pandemic. The country is also at the risk of losing over 125,400 jobs across the sector. 

The Managing Director/Chief Executive of Topaz Travel and Tours Limited, Mrs. Susan Akporiaye who disclosed this to Nation Update in Lagos expressed the worry that the aviation industry was the source of the nation’s livelihood.

According to her, from recent data gathered in April 2020, Nigeria was the second hardest hit country in Africa with 4.7 million fewer travelers resulting in N386.10 billion revenue loss

This, she said was based on a situation of severe travel restrictions lasting for three months, with a gradual lifting of restrictions in domestic markets, followed by regional, and intercontinental. She noted that estimated loss of ticket sales for quarter one 2020 compared to the same period in 2019 was N44.65 billion.

Akporiaye who is also currently the National President of National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA), therefore urged the Federal Government to approve separate funding for the travel and tourism industry as the worst affected industry by the pandemic, as well as other types of palliatives such as grants and tax holiday.

“The federal government is responding to our calls and we will like that this engaging process is followed through so that we achieve the desired goals, travel agency needs government’s intervention fund”, she stated.

She noted that the federal government had put up about N50 billion low interest loans for the small and medium enterprises (SME’s) in all sectors, nevertheless as laudable as this is there is still a lot to be done, she added.

The federal government recently announced a worrisome report that about 39.4 million Nigerians might suffer job loss due to Covid-19 effects, Akporiaye agreed that the figures were quite worrisome, adding this is the reason why the federal government should take seriously and as a matter of urgency, the call for intervention by coming up with good palliatives.

This, she said would alleviate the job loss figures adding that without this mitigation the government would just be faced with the crisis of unemployment in the country.

On what steps the government should take to avert the looming job loss and how best to tackle future pandemics, the NANTA boss advised the government to support organisations/corporations creatively, ranging from soft loans, grants, and tax holidays among others to avert the looming job losses.

This, according to her would discourage corporations from considering the options of downsizing.