The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has welcomed a decision by the Nigerian government to release 265 M USD of airlines blocked funds .<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Regional Vice President for Africa and Asia ,Mr. Kamil Alawadhi,\u00a0 said that IATA will continue to engage with the Nigerian government on expediting the release of the remaining amount, so that airlines can continue providing the connectivity Nigeria requires without disrupting and harming its economy and jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We encourage other countries, in Africa and elsewhere, that are blocking the repatriation of foreign airlines\u2019 funds, to follow Nigeria\u2019s example and release the money they are withholding. Without it, airlines cannot afford to serve those countries. This would be detrimental to the people and businesses that depend on the market connectivity those airlines provide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
IATA speaks and leads the industry on matters of common interest. While IATA cannot speak for individual airlines, we hope the release of blocked funds with assurances and safeguards to prevent a recurrence, will persuade affected carriers to continue serving Nigeria,” Kamil Alawadhi stated .<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dubai\u2019s Emirates announced this month that it would \u00a0suspend flights to Nigeria from next month over an inability to repatriate funds from Africa\u2019s most populous nation..<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The decision highlighted the deadlock faced by international carriers that fly to Nigeria and other African countries where governments are not willing to release foreign currency in income and profits earned -in the long run crippling operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the case of Nigeria ,its government has restricted access to foreign currency for imports and for investors seeking to repatriate their profits due to a shortage of dollars. Nigeria gets about 90% of its foreign exchange from oil, but is struggling to produce due to pipeline theft and years of under-investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the recently conluded IATA AGM in Doha Qatar ,Mr. Alawadhi told the media that IATA was moving strongly to urge government to release the blocked funds for airlines to free up resources that can boost the quick recovery of the industry in Africa where operators are struggling due to limited or no access to their operation revenues .<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Blocked funds refer to the money that airlines have difficulties repatriating from some countries because of governments foreign exchange controls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA financially viable air transport sector supports jobs and must be a driving force for Africa and the Middle East economic recovery from COVID-19. A priority is releasing blocked funds, the IATA VP stated .<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As of April, globally, there is a total $1.6 billion in funds blocked by 20 countries worldwide. Of this, 67% is blocked in Africa for a total of $1 billion, tied up in 12 African countries. Nigeria alone is holding back $464 million. It is the most amount blocked by any single African country, and the amount is rising every week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Editor’s<\/strong> notes:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Even after this welcome and sizeable release, there will still be more than $200m of airlines funds blocked in Nigeria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As previously reported by IATA, the following other African countries continue to block airlines\u2019 funds: The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has welcomed a decision by the Nigerian government to release 265 M USD of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6448,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[180,65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aviation","category-national-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/iata.webp","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6447,"url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/nigeria-should-free-up-airlines-blocked-funds-says-iatas-regional-vice-president-alawadhi\/","url_meta":{"origin":6514,"position":0},"title":"NIGERIA SHOULD FREE UP AIRLINES BLOCKED FUNDS SAYS IATA’S REGIONAL VICE PRESIDENT ALAWADHI","author":"UgandaUpdate","date":"August 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The International Air Transport Association (IATA) Regional Vice President, Kamil Alawadhi, has reacted to the recent decision by one of the global leading airlines- the Emirates' decision to cut flights to Nigeria\u00a0 due to a continuing standoff over blocked funds and urged the government to free-up the airline's money. 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Total funds blocked now tally at close to $2.0 billion. IATA calls on governments to remove all barriers\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Aviation"","block_context":{"text":"Aviation","link":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/category\/aviation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12086,"url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/african-airlines-get-some-relief-as-blocked-funds-drop-to-1-8-billion-with-major-clearance-in-nigeria-but-challenges-persist\/","url_meta":{"origin":6514,"position":2},"title":"African Airlines Get Some Relief As Blocked Funds Drop To $1.8 billion with Major Clearance in Nigeria But Challenges Persist","author":"MOSES SSERWANGA","date":"June 3, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The issue of blocked funds in billions of US dollars has been on the table for sometime now but there is relief for African airlines as the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has reported a 28% decrease in the amount of airline funds blocked from repatriation by governments. The total\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "IATA AGM IN DUBAI"","block_context":{"text":"IATA AGM IN DUBAI","link":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/category\/iata-agm-in-dubai\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/kam2-scaled.jpg","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/kam2-scaled.jpg 1x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/kam2-scaled.jpg 1.5x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/kam2-scaled.jpg 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5948,"url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/travel-barriers-holding-back-africa-aviations-post-covid-recovery-iata\/","url_meta":{"origin":6514,"position":3},"title":"Travel barriers holding back Africa aviation’s post-Covid recovery- IATA","author":"MOSES SSERWANGA","date":"June 19, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"By Moses Sserwanga in Doha ,Qatar The IATA Africa Middle East Regional Vice -President Mr.Kamil Alawadhi has highlighted three strategic areas that will accelerate the recovery of the aviation industry in Africa following a three -year devastating Covid 19 pandemic . Mr. Kamil Alawadhi said there is need to quickly\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "National News"","block_context":{"text":"National News","link":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/category\/national-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/ia-scaled.jpg","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/ia-scaled.jpg 1x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/ia-scaled.jpg 1.5x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/ia-scaled.jpg 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":16102,"url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/usd-1-2-billion-in-airline-funds-blocked-by-governments-majority-in-africa-iata\/","url_meta":{"origin":6514,"position":4},"title":"USD 1.2 Billion in Airline Funds Blocked by Governments, Majority in Africa – IATA","author":"UgandaUpdate","date":"December 11, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"10 December 2025 (Geneva) \u2013 The International Air Transport Association (IATA) reported that USD 1.2 billion in airline funds are blocked from repatriation by governments as of the end of October 2025. 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Zimbabwe ($100m)
Algeria ($96m)
Eritrea ($79m)
Ethiopia ($75m)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"