TAV Airports bids to operate Lagos Airport: part one – legal issues cloud the prospect

Over several years now attempts by the Nigerian government to privatise the country’s four main airports by concession have been consistently and successfully resisted by a range of pressure groups.

The latest attempt, which began a year ago, now sees Turkey’s TAV Airports enter the fray, leading a consortium for the Lagos Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), the country’s busiest, and one where there is already a degree of privatisation, as one of its terminals is privately managed.

The problem is that India’s GMR has also launched a bid, and that company, like TAV, is part-owned by Groupe ADP. That has given a platform for the anti-privatisation elements and there are strong words being bandied about.

On paper, Lagos wouldn’t necessarily attract many investors.  But they will take a macroeconomic view – population, a growing middle class, and a solid industrial base focused on Nigeria’s oil exports.

This is part one of a two-part report.