General News
Ethiopian Airlines Begins International Flight on Enugu Route
Ethiopian Airlines said it will commence new services to Enugu in few weeks time. If achieved, the airline will become the first international carrier to fly to the city.
Ethiopian will also increase its five weekly flights to Abuja to daily service, the airline has announced.
The Airline is the fastest growing Airline in Africa. In its operations in the past close to seven decades, Ethiopian has become one of the continent’s leading carriers, unrivalled in efficiency and operational success.
Ethiopian will operate four times a week to Enugu, its 76th destination. Ethiopian, an indigenous and truly Pan African airline, is one of the oldest carriers flying to Nigeria and has been serving the country since 1960 strengthening trade, cultural and tourism ties between Nigeria and the rest of the world.
According to the airline, passengers from Enugu will have direct flight connections to many destinations in Africa, Middle East, Asia, South America and Europe with the youngest and modern fleet in the continent and enjoy the usual Ethiopian hospitality.
“Our flight to Enugu is another exciting step towards enhancing our commitment to the needs of our travelling publics. Nigeria has always been and continues to be one of our important destinations in West Africa. We are continually improving our products and services to meet our customers’ expectations. We thank the people and the government of Nigeria for their continued support in making this new service to Enugu possible,” said Tewolde Gebremariam, CEO of Ethiopian.
Passengers from the airline’s three gateways in Nigeria – Lagos, Abuja and Enugu – now have the opportunity to fly to destinations throughout the Ethiopian network, including Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Hong Kong, Seoul, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, London, Toronto, Beijing, Beirut, Dubai, Mumbai, and Nairobi.
Ethiopian commands the lion share of the pan-African passenger and cargo network operating the youngest and most modern fleet to more than 75 international destinations across five continents.
Ethiopian fleet includes ultra-modern and environmentally friendly aircraft such as the Boeing 787, Boeing 777-200LR, Boeing 777-200LR Freighter and Bombardier Q-400 with double cabin. In fact, Ethiopian is the first airline in Africa to own and operate these aircraft.
Ethiopian is currently implementing a 15-year strategic plan called Vision 2025 that will see it become the leading aviation group in Africa with seven business centers: Ethiopian Domestic and Regional Airline; Ethiopian International Passenger Airline; Ethiopian Cargo; Ethiopian MRO; Ethiopian Aviation Academy; Ethiopian In-flight Catering Services; and Ethiopian Ground Service.
Ethiopian is a multi-award winning airline and a member of Star Alliance since 2011 registering an average growth of 25% in the past seven years compete favourably well with others on international markets.
“Air freight would make this possible. Access to global markets means that Nigerian farmers would have greater demand for their output and perhaps, better prices.
“That is also expected to stimulate more agricultural production, which would in turn, boost the rural economy in the country. ‘There would be competition by farmers to produce more to feed the foreign and domestic market, unlike what you have now’”.
He maintained that there are a lot of works to be done like support services such as cold storage containers will have to be provided at the airports.
Specialised transportation for these perishables also have to be provided. And these services may have to be provided by the private sector, which is expected to buy into the new vision of the Aviation Ministry to transform Nigerian Aviation Industry.
The Aviation Minister has hosted a number of international road shows aimed at creating awareness in the international community about the possibilities of the country.
The Aviation Ministry and parastatals are also in discussions with various chambers of Commerce and Farmers cooperatives round the country, to sensitize them to the possibilities available under the country’s new air cargo programme and to explore various options for collaboration to achieve the objectives of marketing Nigeria’s perishable agricultural produce to the world.
“With 13 designated air cargo airports spread around the country, farmers would not have to haul their produce over long distances by road, in order to find a market for them.
“For example, take the Enugu Airport. Cashew farmers from neighbouring areas would only have to get their produce to the airport, from where these can be freight to different markets both in and outside the country,” he said.
Available statistics indicate that about 70 per cent of agricultural produce especially perishables such as fruits and tomatoes are wasted while trying to get them to several markets round the country.
Air freight could dramatically reduce this wastage, and put more money back into the hands of Nigerian farmers once the current restructuring, reorganization and provision of cargo handling facilities been undertaken currently is in place.
Nigeria’s Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) market is on a fast-growing trajectory and is predicted to be valued $2.61 billion by 2030, up 83% from $1.42 billion in 2024, owing primarily to the rapid emergence of fintechs in the country.
This observation was stated in EnterpriseNGR’s State of Enterprise 2025 report, which focuses on how fintechs are reshaping Nigeria’s business landscape through digital innovations, accessible credit systems, and mobile-first financial tools.
As a credit system, BNPL allows users to stagger payments for products and services, making it a key development driver in Nigeria’s developing digital economy.
From 2021 to 2024, the BNPL experienced a compounded annual growth rate of 23.1%. Fintechs have contributed to the rapid growth by providing a range of flexible loan alternatives for e-commerce, retail, and services, bridging financial gaps for millions of disadvantaged Nigerians.
The report highlights how fintechs have contributed to Nigeria’s flexibility and resiliency by simplifying digital payments, automating invoicing and payroll systems, and democratising credit through platforms such as Renmoney and FairMoney.
The report also shows a significant rise in remittance inflows into Nigeria following the Central Bank of Nigeria’s 2024 policy adjustments.
According to the report, by 2024, Nigeria boasted over 400 licensed digital lenders who extend collateral-free credit to those commonly excluded by banks.
The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) strengthened bilateral relations with the Netherlands’ government through an agreement targeted at improving migration governance and border security.
This partnership was confirmed during a meeting at the NIS headquarters in Abuja, which was attended by a Dutch team led by Jurgen Bartelink, Chargé D’Affaires of the Embassy of the Netherlands in Nigeria.
The meeting focused on increasing bilateral migration cooperation and came after the comptroller general of Immigration, Kemi Nandap, paid a working visit to the Netherlands.
Under the agreement, the Dutch government pledged to continue supporting technology-driven solutions targeted at boosting Nigeria’s border control systems and improving migration management.
During the Netherlands Embassy diplomats handed over essential operational tools, such as Edison Software licence keys and the Passport Examination Programme Manual App.
According to NIS spokeswoman ACI Akinsola Akinlabi, “The partnership focuses on enhancing bilateral collaboration on migration management and reviewing ongoing capacity-building efforts.”
Bartelink, Chargé d’Affaires of the Netherlands Embassy in Nigeria, underlined the Netherlands’ commitment to helping Nigeria’s continuing border security and migration reforms.
Also speaking, Rob Bokhoven, head of international affairs, repatriation, and deportation services at the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security, emphasised the country’s strong bilateral relations and announced plans to share a mobile border software solution with the NIS.
Receiving the equipment, Nandap said the delivery of the gadgets would boost West African country’s border security, significantly improve the service’s document verification border management capabilities and support the implementation of Nigeria’s National Migration Policy.
“The engagement will further reinforce the strategic partnership between Nigeria and the Netherlands advancing shared goals in migration governance, border security and international cooperation,” she added.
Peter Enogb, principal country economist, African Development Bank (AfDB), says the rise in global uncertainty, emanating from increases in global trade tariffs, has slowed Nigeria’s projected growth to 3.2% in 2025.
“Without this level of heightened uncertainty, our projections would probably have been somewhat higher. We’ve reduced our projections for Nigeria. We initially were projecting 3.5% – 3.6% growth in 2025.
“But given the current situation, our models are showing that we’re taking a more cautious approach. So that’s why we produced this and, of course, the main driver is uncertainty in the global economy,” Enogb said.
He said this at the launch of the 2025 Nigeria Country Focus Report (CFR) on Thursday.
AFDB projected that real GDP growth would hit 3.1% in 2026. Following the 2024 consumer price index (CPI) rebasing, with lower weights for food items, the inflation rate is expected to reduce over the medium term to 24.7% in 2025 and 17.3% in 2026.
As imports start to rise over the medium term, the current account is projected to decline to 3.9% of GDP in 2026.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that Nigeria’s headline inflation slowed for the second consecutive month to 22.97% in May. This is down from 24.48% at the start of the year
This is contrary to the World Bank projection that Nigeria’s economy would record steady growth of 3.6% despite the shift in the global trade dynamics.
Joseph Ogebe, head of research and development at Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), also said that global uncertainty had been very high in recent times, resulting from the Trump 2.0 effect.
“And also with the recent war between Israel and the international community, we’ve seen what’s happening to oil prices. Even with the call-off of the war, we’ve seen the effect on oil prices too, which has implications on the fiscal side. So it has implications for the general economy,” he said.
The head of research at NESG said that rather than focusing on just growth, what should be looked at is a strategy called growth with depth.
“Growth with depth means that your growth must be diversified, export-led, productive, and technologically driven,” he said.
Ogebe said that if the Government works towards adopting a strategy of growth with depth, there is a tendency for the government to move towards its goal of achieving a $1 trillion economy by 2030.
The report revealed that the country’s recent policy moves, including fuel subsidy removal, exchange rate unification, and tax reforms, reflect a commitment to long-term transformation.
However, it also pointed out that at about 13%, Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP ratio is among the lowest in West Africa, noting that fiscal reforms are urgent.
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