The African Aviation and Aerospace University (AAAU) in Abuja has held discussions with a technical team from the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) on capacity development for Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) in Nigeria.
The engagement focused on training, knowledge development and exchange, and the professional capacity required to support the country’s emerging SAF ecosystem.
The NCAA delegation included members of its Environment Team, an NCAA SAF Technical Expert and ICAO Consultant Jon McKechnie. The team was received by AAAU Acting Vice-Chancellor Mustapha Sheikh Abdullahi, together with members of the university’s management and staff.
The discussions followed work initiated last year to explore Nigeria’s potential for SAF development. Preliminary studies identified opportunities to develop SAF from available sustainable resources, providing a basis for further consideration of the technical, academic and institutional requirements needed to support the sector.
Attention has now shifted towards developing the expertise required to translate that potential into practical capacity, including the possible role of AAAU as a knowledge and training base.
A major focus of the meeting was a proposed Training of Trainers programme aimed at developing professionals and subject-matter experts capable of transferring knowledge and supporting wider SAF capacity development.
The parties discussed the scope of the programme, the technical and knowledge areas it would need to cover and the importance of establishing an appropriate academic foundation.
They also considered the exchange of tutors, trainers and subject-matter experts between relevant institutions, together with the need to expand specialised expertise and develop the institutional capacity required to absorb, develop and transfer SAF-related knowledge.
The meeting further examined collaboration with other institutions, recognising that SAF development will require contributions from regulators, academia, technical experts, industry stakeholders and other relevant partners.
For AAAU, the proposed capacity-building activities align with its aviation and environmental mandate and the work of ACCCAD, particularly in climate change, aviation decarbonisation and professional capacity development.
Abdullahi expressed interest in the proposed collaboration and in the university’s potential role in hosting and supporting SAF-related training and knowledge-development activities. The meeting also considered how the proposed training could strengthen the technical foundation of ACCCAD and support its wider capacity-development objectives.
As a next step, a team comprising ACCCAD leadership and other relevant AAAU experts will work with the NCAA technical team to further develop areas of collaboration, including training, subject-matter expertise, knowledge exchange and the proposed Training of Trainers programme.
