Opinion

Saturday April, 21st 2018 marked one year anniversary of the CBN’s (Central Bank of Nigeria) launch of the Investors and Exporters’ (I&E) FX window. Although the policy was pitched almost a year after the CBN originally reneged on the June 2016 announcement of a transition to a flexible foreign exchange framework, initial scepticism which greeted I&E fizzled within weeks post-introduction after FX transactions in the window cumulated to US$1.9bn by May-2017.

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari announced on Monday he wants to seek another term in office in February 2019 elections. With that declaration, the race to lead Africa’s largest democracy is underway. The path ahead could be tough for his All Progressives Congress (APC), the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) opposition and any other party that may contest the vote, Reuters reports.

WHAT’S AT STAKE?
Buhari’s 2015 victory was built on three promises: to rid Nigeria of its endemic corruption, to fix the economy and to defeat threats to security.

On Wednesday 21st March 2018, African Leaders gathered at an extraordinary summit of the African Union (AU) in Kigali, Rwanda to sign an agreement which established the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA). The decision to establish the free trade area, which is poised to be the World’s largest free trade area in terms of participating members since the creation of the World Trade Organization, stems from the 18th Ordinary session of the AU in 2012 where member nations agreed to establish the free trade area by 2017.

Forecasts by aviation giant Boeing that the industry will need 637,000 new pilots by 2036 mean that companies offering training or providing training equipment will have their work cut out. Jacopo Dettoni looks at how they intend to meet this demand.

The global aviation industry continues to grow at a steady pace as economic development and low-budget airlines boost the pool of potential passengers.