Keyamo elected as chair of West African ministers aviation grouping at its Abuja summit

NIGERIA'S Festus Keyamo has been elected as chairman of the West African aviation ministers' grouping at their recent summit in Abuja replacing Alhaji Fandey Turay of Sierra Leone.

Mr Keyamo, Nigeria's minister of aviation and aerospace development, now officially takes over from Alhaji Turay, Sierra Leone's minister of transport and aviation, as the chairperson of the West Africa Banjul Accord Group. Formed to improve aviation across the West African sub-region, the Banjul Accord Group (Bag), is a collection of seven nations that signed the Banjul Accord on aviation on January 29 2004.

Bag was founded to promote safe, efficient use and development of civil aviation within the member states including Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. In his speech to the Bag meeting in Abuja, Mr Keyamo told the other aviation ministers to brace themselves for heavy investment in infrastructure overt the coming years.

Mr Keyamo said: “In recognition of our bold and innovative policies in the aviation sector under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu, a few hours ago, I was appointed as the new chairman of the West Africa Banjul Accord Group by the ministers of transport/aviation in the West African states. The announcement was made during the ongoing Bag meeting in Abuja, reinforcing Nigeria’s leading role in improving air travel across West Africa.

“Bag member states should be prepared to make more concerted efforts for more investments in the provision of infrastructure and facilities for safe, secure, environmentally friendly and sustainable civil aviation.”