New Nigerian air connection vital

EVERY SO often, this country signs a bilateral agreement. For example, one was signed with Panama in 2013. Another with Ghana in 2024.

Often, after flashy signing ceremonies, very little is heard about these initiatives. But there is something about the air service agreement signed on April 15 with Nigeria that suggests its fate will be different.

Timing is everything. This deal comes at a time when it is poised to be more than just a symbolic connection on paper with shared heritage and history.

It is a move that transforms the idea of tapping into the African market from being a niche notion into a central one. It is vital to this country’s economic future.

The deal signed by Minister of Works Rohan Sinanan and Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development Festus Keyamo unlocks trade and people-to-people ties.

It opens direct airline routes for both cargo and passenger flights.

The aim is to circumvent the need for transit through other countries. Travel time could, as a result, be reduced from 24 hours to just 7.5 hours – less time than it takes to get to London.

This is a game-changer.

The deal fits within a larger Caricom framework is also part of its appeal and why it needs to be fully implemented.

TT could potentially become a hub for Caribbean nations embarking on Nigerian business, providing a boost to economic activity at Piarco.

The government must ensure it sets terms that encourage airlines to come forward as designated carriers without hindering competition.

The process needs to be thought through so that there is an appropriate balance between state involvement and private buy-in.

As we have seen with the inter-island route between Trinidad and Tobago, air travel is mostly a public good.

If the endgame is lucrative enough, there is a strong argument for government involvement, through the most likely carrier, Caribbean Airlines Ltd.

All indicators suggest this connection with Nigeria is more than worthwhile. That country is at an economic inflection point, with GDP growth of 3.5 per cent in 2024, despite high inflation, exchange rate depreciation and high interest rates. Its government revenue is poised to grow amid a suite of reforms. The country has food, energy and manufacturing deficits which this region could help reduce.

South-south trade has long been a theoretical idea. But the convulsions in the global economy, and the shaping of a new economic order thanks to Trumponomics, make such trade indispensable. Necessity is the mother of all inventions.

An airlink will facilitate deeper cultural and social ties, building upon a shared colonial history.

Re-opening the trans-Atlantic corridor that operated after World War II, when planes would go between Wallerfield and North Africa, would not be a retreat to a distant past but, rather, a bold step into the future.

With a population of at least 234 million, tourism, skills and investment can flow from the world’s sixth-most populous nation. This is something the Caribbean should tap.

The agreement must mark a profound transformation.