(Adds quote, context throughout)
By Felix Onuah
ABUJA, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Nigerian President Muhammadu
Buhari has directed the central bank to increase the amount of
foreign currency allocated to Dubai's Emirates, after the
airline suspended flights to and from Nigeria because it was
unable to repatriate funds.
Nigeria is facing severe dollar shortages, forcing many
citizens and business to seek foreign exchange on the black
market, where its naira currency has progressively weakened.
The United Arab Emirates airline suspended its Nigerian
flights on two occasions last year as local currency earned from
ticket sales was trapped in Africa's most populous nation.
In a telephone conversation with UAE President Sheikh
Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Monday, Buhari requested a
resumption of Emirates' flights to Nigeria and the lifting of a
"blanket" visa ban imposed on Nigerians by the UAE, Buhari's
office said.
"Buhari assured the UAE leader that the issue of the
Emirates funds was receiving appropriate attention alongside
those of other foreign airlines operating in Nigeria," it said
in a statement.
The central bank in August 2022 released $265 million to
airlines to settle outstanding ticket sales, after which
Emirates resumed its Nigerian flights in September, only to
suspend them from the end of October due to the same issue of
blocked funds.
The International Air Transport Association said last year
that Nigeria was blocking airlines from repatriating hundreds of
millions of dollars in revenue.
Oil is Nigeria's biggest foreign exchange earner, but
rampant crude theft in the Niger Delta and years of
underinvestment have hurt output and strained government
finances. For a few months last year, Angola overtook Nigeria as
Africa's biggest oil producer and exporter.
(Reporting by Felix Onuah; Writing by Chijioke Ohuocha; Editing
by Alexander Winning and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
Reuters Messaging: chijioke.ohuocha.thomsonreuters@reuters.net))
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