Zimbabwe has cleared 90 percennt of its obligations to international airlines which amounted to about US$100 million, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) revealed on Wednesday.
As of July this year, The Harare administration, together with Nigeria, had between them owed some US$565 million of the US$1.4 billion in airline revenues trapped in Africa.
However, according to IATA’s Vice President for Africa and the Middle East Kamil Al-Awadhi, Zimbabwe has by last month managed to clear most of its obligations.
“They have done beautifully. I commend the Zimbabwe government for doing so well,” said Kamil. “They were receptive from day one, showing us their numbers, came up with payment plan and paid 90 percent as soon as they had the cash.”
Nigeria had also paid US$265 million of the US$465 million it owed, and “making good progress with a payment plan that also covered projected monthly accruals”.
“Nigeria was the highest defaulter globally, but after we went through rounds of talks, the message got through and they started with a US$260 million payment and they followed through almost immediately,” said Kamil.
“They settled more than paid 50 percent and if some airlines did not get their money, it is because they did not submit their bills in time.”
Other big African defaulters include as Algeria (US$96 million), Eritrea (US$79 million), and Ethiopia (US$75 million). – New Zimbabwe
