By Faith Anisiobi, The Sight News
The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has commenced discussions with the African Aviation and Aerospace University (AAAU), Abuja, on strengthening technical capacity, knowledge development and professional expertise to support the emerging Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) ecosystem in Nigeria.
The discussions were held when a technical team from the NCAA Environment Team, including NCAA SAF Technical Expert and ICAO Consultant, Jon McKechnie, visited AAAU to explore collaboration on SAF development, training, knowledge exchange and institutional capacity building.
The team was received by the Acting Vice-Chancellor of AAAU, Dr Mustapha Sheikh Abdullahi, alongside members of the university management and staff.
Abdullahi highlighted AAAU’s academic programmes and growing focus on aviation, aerospace and environmental sustainability, as well as the role of the African Centre for Climate Change and Aviation Decarbonization (ACCCAD) in advancing research, knowledge and capacity development in climate change and aviation decarbonization.
He said the engagement built on preliminary efforts initiated in 2025 to explore Nigeria’s potential for SAF development, noting that studies had identified significant opportunities for SAF production from available sustainable resources.
According to him, attention is now shifting towards translating the identified potential into practical action, including developing the technical, academic and institutional capacity required for a functional SAF ecosystem.
Abdullahi said AAAU could serve as a knowledge and training base for SAF capacity development, particularly through the proposed Training of Trainers (ToT) programme.
He explained that the programme is designed to develop a pool of professionals and subject-matter experts capable of transferring knowledge and supporting broader capacity development in the SAF sector.
The Acting Vice-Chancellor expressed the university’s interest in hosting and supporting SAF-related training and knowledge-development activities, adding that the collaboration could also strengthen ACCCAD’s technical foundation and broader capacity-development objectives.
The NCAA team discussed the structure and requirements of the proposed programme, including the technical and knowledge areas to be covered and the academic foundation needed to support the initiative.
The team also explored opportunities for exchanges involving tutors, trainers and subject-matter experts among relevant institutions, as well as the infrastructure required to develop, absorb and transfer knowledge in the emerging SAF field.
The NCAA emphasized the importance of collaboration among regulators, academic institutions, technical experts, industry stakeholders and other partners, given the multidisciplinary nature of SAF development.
It was agreed that the leadership of ACCCAD and other relevant experts at AAAU would work with the NCAA technical team to further define areas of collaboration, including training, subject-matter expertise, knowledge exchange and the proposed Training of Trainers programme.
The engagement is expected to contribute to strengthening Nigeria’s human and institutional capacity for its Sustainable Aviation Fuel ambitions and deepen collaboration between the aviation regulator and academia towards a more sustainable, lower-emission aviation sector.
