Business
Bolt resumes operations at Nigerian airports after Keyamo’s intervention
Bolt has been cleared to resume operations at airports managed by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), following an intervention by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo.
Mr Keyamo, in a statement on Thursday, said he had directed FAAN to urgently address concerns over what passengers described as exorbitant increases in airport taxi fares following the disruption of e-hailing services.
After the minister’s intervention, FAAN announced that it had reached an “agreeable operational framework” with Bolt, clearing the company to resume its services at FAAN-managed airports immediately.
The development followed days of controversy over the operation of e-hailing platforms at Nigerian airports, with passengers complaining about higher transportation costs after they were unable to access services they had previously relied on.
FAAN also apologised to passengers for the inconvenience caused by the temporary interruption of e-hailing services.
How the dispute started
The controversy followed FAAN’s efforts to establish a new operational framework for commercial and e-hailing vehicles operating within airport premises.
An internal FAAN memo dated 30 July directed airport managers to ensure that Bolt and Uber ceased commercial operations at FAAN-managed airports pending the finalisation of licence agreements with the e-hailing companies.
However, on 20 August, FAAN said it had not imposed a blanket ban on Uber, Bolt or other e-hailing platforms, but said discussions were ongoing with operators to establish a workable framework for their operations.
The clarification followed reports of restrictions affecting e-hailing services at some FAAN-managed airports, including the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
FAAN said its concern was not to limit passengers’ transportation choices but to ensure that commercial transport services operating within airport premises complied with safety, security and accountability requirements.
The authority said airports were highly regulated environments and that it needed adequate visibility of vehicles, drivers and operators working within them.
FAAN said it had been dealing with problems associated with commercial and e-hailing vehicles at airports for nearly a decade, including passenger solicitation, touting, unregulated operations and random pick-ups.
It said the challenges had made it necessary to strengthen the management of commercial transportation within airport premises.
Fare controversy
The dispute became more contentious after passengers began raising concerns about the cost of airport taxis.
A recent video by travel content creator Chris Joondeph, popularly known as Authentic Travelling, showed an airport taxi operator quoting N30,000 for a journey from the Lagos airport to Ikeja.
The fare generated widespread criticism, particularly after comparisons showed significantly lower prices on e-hailing platforms for the same journey. Bolt listed the trip at about N6,900, while Uber quoted N4,200 for UberX and N5,800 for its Priority option.
The controversy heightened concerns among passengers who had become accustomed to using e-hailing platforms for relatively cheaper airport transportation.
FAAN, however, said the fares that attracted public criticism were not newly imposed by the authority or introduced through its Airport Car Hire Rank Management System (ACHRAMS).
According to the authority, the rates existed before ACHRAMS and were not substantially different from those previously applicable.
FAAN said ACHRAMS only brought greater visibility to the prevailing airport taxi rates.
ACHRAMS, which stands for Airport Car Hire Rank Management System, was introduced by FAAN as a system for managing airport car-hire ranks and authorised transportation operations.
The authority stressed that ACHRAMS was not an e-hailing application and was not created to compete with Bolt, Uber or other mobility platforms.
Keyamo orders urgent action
Amid the controversy over fares and the disruption of e-hailing services, Keyamo directed FAAN to urgently resolve the issue.
The minister’s intervention came as complaints from passengers continued to draw attention to the difficulties faced by travellers seeking affordable transportation from airports.
Following the directive, FAAN said it had engaged Bolt and reached an operational agreement that would allow the platform to resume services immediately.
The authority said the agreement showed that airport regulation and security could coexist with passengers’ access to e-hailing services.
“The resolution demonstrates that it is possible to protect the integrity and security of the airport environment while preserving the convenience and freedom of choice that e-hailing services provide to passengers,” FAAN said.
FAAN also apologised for the disruption.
“We sincerely apologise for the difficulties this caused our passengers,” the authority said.
The authority acknowledged that although its actions were driven by regulatory, safety and security considerations, the immediate impact on passengers had been significant.
Bolt resumes, others still in talks
With the agreement reached, Bolt has been cleared to resume operations at all FAAN-managed airports.
FAAN said it was also engaging other e-hailing operators and expected the outstanding discussions to be concluded in the coming days.
READ ALSO: Keyamo directs airlines, unions to agree repayment plans over TSC debt
However, the authority did not give details of the specific operational terms agreed with Bolt.
It said passengers remained free to choose from available transportation options that best met their needs, provided the services were authorised to operate within the airport environment.
The authority noted that its responsibility was to ensure that whichever transportation service passengers chose operated in a safe, secure, orderly and accountable manner.
The resolution comes after FAAN had initially maintained that its engagement with e-hailing operators was aimed at establishing an appropriate framework rather than eliminating the services.
The latest development restores Bolt as an option for passengers using FAAN-managed airports, while the authority continues discussions with other operators.
For passengers, the immediate significance is the return of a familiar alternative to airport taxi services at a time when transportation costs have become a major part of the airport travel experience.
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Dangote Refinery will open the order book for its initial public offering to retail investors on 14 September, effectively kickstarting the $1.5 billion public share sale, said to be the continent’s biggest ever, Reuters reported Friday, citing two sources who have close knowledge of the move.
Pricing will commence at any moment now at N525 per share ($0.40), with 4.1 billion shares up for subscription, the report added, noting that the sources spoke on the understanding that their identities will not be disclosed.
The crude processing plant, which holds the distinction of being the world’s largest single-train refinery, will have the latitude to sell 15 per cent of the offer size in addition to the total number of shares up for grabs in the event the transaction is oversubscribed, a source was quoted as saying.
The facility, owned by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, is ready to double nameplate capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day (bpd).
Financing will be provided by proceeds from both the planned equity sale and a private placement held in July, which raised $2.5 billion from institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals. It was 270 per cent oversubscribed.
Another refinery, the size of the current one at 700,000 bpd, is to be established in the coastal town of Lamu in Kenya, strategically conceived by the Dangote Group as the gateway to the broader East African market.
READ ALSO: Dangote Cement sets date for London capital markets day ahead of LSE listing
Last month, the group offered a 30 per cent stake in the proposed refinery to countries in the region, including Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia.
The groundbreaking is scheduled for this month.
Dangote Refinery is exploring a cross-border listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the continent’s foremost bourse, following a primary listing in Lagos.
The corporation said in August that a London listing, which its sister company, Dangote Cement, is actively pursuing, is not on the cards, adding that a potential listing in the UK capital is at least three years away.
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President Bola Tinubu has welcomed the planned launch of the African Credit Rating Agency (AfCRA), saying Africa needs financial institutions that better understand the continent’s economies and risks.
The African Union has announced that the agency will officially launch on 7 October in Port Louis, Mauritius.
President Tinubu said the development was another step towards building African financial institutions capable of providing more accurate assessments of the continent’s economies.
The president disclosed this in a post on his official X account on Thursday, recalling that he had advocated for an African credit rating agency in a February 2026 Financial Times article.
He said he also raised the issue at the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali, Rwanda, in May, where he called for Africa to develop financial institutions that understand its economic realities.
“Africa is not asking for favourable ratings. We are asking for fair ratings, grounded in our fundamentals and in the reforms our economies are actually carrying out,” he said.
Why the agency matters
Credit ratings influence how investors assess the risk of lending to countries and companies. They can also affect borrowing costs and the amount of capital available to governments and businesses.
African governments have repeatedly raised concerns about what they describe as an “Africa premium”, under which African countries may face higher borrowing costs because of how investors perceive the continent’s risks.
The three major global rating agencies, including Fitch, Moody’s and S&P Global Ratings, currently play a major role in assessing African sovereign and corporate borrowers.
President Tinubu, in an article published by Financial Times, argued that African economies were paying too much to borrow because international assessments did not always adequately capture their economic realities.
He cited a 2023 United Nations Development Programme estimate that shortcomings in credit ratings cost African countries about $75 billion annually through higher interest payments and foregone lending.
He also argued that commodity-dependent African economies could be particularly exposed to downgrades during global market downturns, even when their reserves, fiscal positions, and debt profiles remained manageable.
The proposed agency is therefore expected to provide an Africa-focused alternative by taking greater account of local economic conditions and reforms.
The African Union has said that AfCRA will operate alongside existing global rating agencies rather than replace them.
Tinubu seeks investor confidence
In his statement Thursday, the president said the establishment of an African rating agency should not be interpreted as a demand for preferential treatment.
READ ALOS: US court case on Tinubu’s past forfeiture is civil, not criminal matter – Presidency
Rather, he said, the agency must provide assessments based on economic fundamentals and the reforms being implemented by African countries.
He pointed to Nigeria’s experience, arguing that improvements in economic data, fiscal transparency and reforms had contributed to recent upgrades by international rating agencies.
However, he acknowledged that the credibility of AfCRA would ultimately depend on the quality and independence of its assessments.
“AfCRA must now earn the confidence of global capital. That confidence will rest on its independence and the rigour of its work,” he noted.
The launch is scheduled for 7 October in Mauritius, with President Tinubu saying he looks forward to the development.
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