The Airport That Time Left Behind — and the Billion-Dollar Bet to Rebuild It
In March 2026, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria made the most consequential decision in Nigerian aviation history: it completely shut down Terminal 1 of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport for a full structural overhaul. The 47-year-old building — designed in the 1970s to handle fewer than 200,000 passengers annually — had by 2024 been pushed through its gates by over 4.33 million international travellers. Structurally compromised, operationally embarrassing, and climatically indefensible by modern standards, Terminal 1 had become a symbol not just of infrastructure neglect, but of the financing gap that separates Lagos's aviation ambitions from its aviation realities.
The ₦712 billion (approximately $500 million) renovation commitment is the opening act of a much larger story. Simultaneously, Lagos State is advancing the Lekki-Epe International Airport — a greenfield facility designed with climate responsibility at its core — on 3,500 hectares along the city's fastest-growing development corridor. Together, these two projects define the most important question in Nigerian aviation today: what financing models can build and operate a green airport network for Africa's largest and most consequential city?
The answers emerging from Lagos are not only relevant to Nigeria. They are becoming a reference point for how African megacities with constrained public budgets, climate imperatives, and exploding passenger demand approach the economics of sustainable airport infrastructure.
Why Airport Finance and Green Design Must Now Be Inseparable
Aviation is responsible for approximately 2–3 percent of global CO₂ emissions annually — a figure that understates its full climate impact when contrasted radiative forcing from high-altitude emissions is included. Sustainable measures such as the implementation of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and the purchase of fuel-efficient aircraft are associated with large upfront expenditures and lengthy payback periods, creating a structural tension between the urgency of decarbonisation and the financial realities facing airports in developing economies.
For Lagos specifically, the climate stakes are compounded by geography. A city barely a metre above sea level, already experiencing intensifying flooding and coastal erosion, cannot afford to build airport infrastructure that locks in a carbon-intensive operational model for the next fifty years. The financing structures chosen today will determine whether Lagos's aviation growth contributes to or mitigates the climate pressures bearing down on the city.
⭐ Green airport finance models for Lagos combine public sovereign investment, private concession structures, multilateral climate finance, and design-build-finance-operate arrangements to fund sustainable terminal construction, renewable energy integration, and climate-resilient infrastructure — enabling Lagos to expand aviation capacity without locking in the carbon-intensive legacy systems that have defined its first generation of airport development. ⭐
The MMIA Terminal 1 Overhaul: Public Finance with Green Ambitions
Under the leadership of FAAN Managing Director Olubunmi Kuku and backed by a ₦712 billion federal investment, Terminal 1 is now entering a complete 22-month shutdown for a total structural overhaul. The reconstruction represents a major leap forward from congestion to a capacity-ready hub. If completed on schedule, MMIA's capacity will leap to 17.6 million passengers per year — a nearly fourfold increase.
The government states that the funding comes fully from the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund, marking a strategic investment in national aviation assets. This purely public financing model — unusual in a global context where airport modernisation increasingly relies on private capital — reflects both the political significance of MMIA as Nigeria's premier international gateway and the practical difficulty of structuring private concession investment around a terminal undergoing total structural demolition and rebuild.
The sustainability dimension of the Terminal 1 reconstruction is embedded in its engineering specification. A modern glass curtain wall will be installed to enhance aesthetics and energy efficiency. The internal layout will be reconfigured to streamline passenger movement and improve commercial space utilisation, with departing and arriving passengers separated in the upgraded terminal fingers to reduce congestion and enhance operational efficiency.
Dedicated transit zones will allow regional travellers to connect between flights without the need to re-clear immigration, bringing MMIA closer to the standards of Addis Ababa or Johannesburg. New independent ring roads and a bridge leading directly to Terminal 2 are being built to address the notorious toll-gate gridlock.
MMIA's revenue model remains heavily skewed toward aeronautical sources, which account for about 92% of earnings, with non-aeronautical sources contributing only 8%. The Terminal 1 reconstruction explicitly targets this imbalance — increasing commercial space utilisation to generate the diversified non-aeronautical revenue streams that make green airport financing self-sustaining over time. This mirrors the commercial model used by leading African airports including OR Tambo in Johannesburg and Addis Ababa Bole International, where retail, hospitality, and logistics revenues subsidise both operational costs and green infrastructure investment. For more on how airport commercial models are evolving across West Africa, read our infrastructure finance series.
The Lekki-Epe International Airport: A Green Greenfield PPP
If the MMIA Terminal 1 renovation represents the rehabilitation of Lagos's existing aviation infrastructure, the Lekki-Epe International Airport represents its future — and it is being built on an entirely different financial architecture.
The Lagos State Government signed an MoU with Summa Group to develop and construct Lekki-Epe International Airport under a public-private partnership model. The master plan has been completed and a 3,500-hectare site for the airport has been secured, designed to handle five million passengers per annum with scope for future expansion.
The proposed Lekki International Airport, located 10 kilometres from the Lekki Free Trade Zone, is designed to accommodate the Airbus A380, making it a Code F-compliant airport. The first phase of the project was initially estimated to cost ₦171.64 billion (approximately $450 million).
The PPP structure for the Lekki airport is a Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Manage (DBFOM) model — the most comprehensive form of private sector participation in airport development. The airport will be constructed in partnership with local and foreign investors, with the Special Adviser on Public Private Partnerships confirming that the master plan and aeronautical designs are in place, with studies ongoing about strategies, funding, and other issues, after which the project will be taken to the marketplace.
President Tinubu, at the FAAN National Aviation Conference, announced that the Green Line rail project will connect Marina to the Lekki corridor and the site of the planned Lekki-Epe International Airport, emphasising the government's commitment to developing a fully integrated transport system linking rail, road, water, and air. This multimodal integration — rail to airport — is not incidental. It is a core feature of the green airport financing case: airports with excellent public transport connectivity generate higher passenger volumes, command stronger airline interest, and produce the non-aeronautical revenue density that makes private investment viable.
Crucially, the President assured that the new Lekki airport is being designed with climate responsibility, strong community engagement and long-term economic impact in mind — a design mandate that opens the door to climate finance instruments including green bonds, concessional multilateral lending, and EU Global Gateway infrastructure financing of the kind already deployed in the Omi Eko ferry project.
Comparing Lagos's Airport Finance Models
| Project | Finance Model | Primary Funder | Climate Features | Capacity Target |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MMIA T1 Overhaul | Public (sovereign fund) | Federal Govt (RHIDF) | Energy-efficient envelope, streamlined layout | 17.6M pax/year |
| MMIA T2 (2022) | Sovereign loan (China Exim) | Chinese Exim Bank | Modern systems, 66 check-in counters | 14M pax/year |
| MMA2 Domestic | Private concession | Bi-Courtney Aviation (BASL) | Privately operated, commercial model | 75% domestic traffic |
| Lekki-Epe Airport | DBFOM PPP (Summa Group) | Private + State | Climate-responsible design mandate | 5M pax/year (Phase 1) |
Sustainable Aviation Fuel: The Next Green Finance Frontier for Lagos
No discussion of green airport finance in Lagos is complete without addressing the fuel challenge. Aviation produces about 2–3 percent of global CO₂ emissions, nearly all from jet fuel. SAF is the most promising pathway, with the International Air Transport Association estimating it could deliver 65 percent of the reductions needed for net zero by 2050.
Africa is lagging behind on SAF adoption due to prohibitive costs, a lack of infrastructure, and a reliance on European standards that threaten to leave the continent sidelined in aviation's green transition. Of the $32.4 billion in net profit generated by the global aviation sector in 2024, Africa accounted for only $200 million — less than 0.6% — creating a fundamental affordability constraint for Nigerian airlines seeking to adopt SAF without solid financial support.
The structural solution is PPP-driven SAF infrastructure. Africa's potential as a SAF producer is significant, leveraging abundant resources such as agricultural residues, non-edible oils, and eventually solar-powered green hydrogen for Power-to-Liquid pathways. Building a single commercial-scale biorefinery can cost between $500 million and over $1 billion, and PPPs provide a proven framework to de-risk these massive, capital-intensive projects and align them with national development goals.
The European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the African Development Bank issued a joint statement in November 2025 committing to explore pathways for scaling up SAF development, production, and deployment in Africa, aligned with the EU Sustainable Transport Investment Plan and the African Union's Continental Strategy for SAF adopted in February 2025. For Lagos — home to Nigeria's largest aviation market and potentially the largest SAF blending demand in West Africa — this trilateral finance commitment represents a significant opportunity to anchor SAF infrastructure at the Lekki airport complex.
Learn more about how Nigeria's aviation sector is positioning for the sustainable fuel transition in our dedicated analysis.
Global Green Airport Benchmarks: What Lagos Can Learn
Lagos is building its green airport finance strategy in a global context where sustainable airport development has matured significantly. Several peer airports offer directly instructive lessons.
Cochin International Airport, India — the world's first fully solar-powered airport — generates about 40 MW annually through rooftop and ground-mounted photovoltaic systems, achieving energy self-sufficiency entirely through renewable generation. George Airport in South Africa uses solar power to meet over 40% of its electricity demand, showcasing the success of solar integration even in medium-sized facilities on the African continent.
Istanbul Airport has committed to a planned 199 MW solar farm to reduce fossil fuel dependence — a scale of on-site renewable generation that makes the airport energy-independent from grid fluctuations. Global infrastructure funds are increasingly treating airports as climate-transition assets when designed with electric ground fleets, solar-powered terminals, and SAF logistics infrastructure — creating a new category of institutional investment that Lagos's Lekki airport, with its explicit climate design mandate, is positioned to attract.
Rwanda's Bugesera International Airport and Kenya's JKIA modernisation are the most directly comparable African peers. Both projects incorporate renewable energy, smart mobility integration, and resilient infrastructure principles — mirroring the AU's green aviation vision and demonstrating that climate-compatible airport development is achievable at African scale and cost.
You can explore how Lagos's aviation infrastructure compares with leading African smart city airports in our comparative analysis on the blog.
Cost Considerations, Financing Challenges, and Investment Trends
The economics of green airport finance in Lagos reveal both the scale of the opportunity and the depth of the structural challenges.
Reports indicate that in 2024 MMIA processed just 6.5 million passengers — less than half its installed capacity of 14 million annually. The decision to dedicate ₦712.3 billion to a fresh renovation of MMIA has provoked intense debate, with critics questioning whether such a costly renovation is justified when existing capacity remains underutilised.
The financing risk profile is significant. Implementing green financing in aviation presents significant obstacles, with sustainable measures associated with large upfront expenditures and lengthy payback periods. For MMIA, the purely public funding model eliminates private sector discipline on cost and execution — a concern critics have raised given the airport's history of repeatedly funded but incompletely delivered renovation cycles.
For the Lekki airport, the DBFOM PPP model transfers both construction risk and long-term operational risk to the private consortium — a more disciplined financing architecture. However, the first phase of the Lekki International Airport is now being costed at approximately $900 million by the Lagos State Government — double the earlier estimate of $450 million — reflecting both the greenfield complexity and the escalating cost of climate-resilient design specifications at Code F standard.
Lagos State's ₦3.367 trillion 2025 budget allocates ₦1.052 trillion for infrastructure development, with several key projects planned around the proposed Lekki-Epe International Airport, including the Lekki-Epe Orisa Bridge, its approach road, and the Lekki-Epe Airport Road — all of which constitute the public land-side investment that makes the private airport concession financially viable. This bundled public-private cost-sharing is the structural logic of green airport PPP finance globally.
The ICAO's global airport carbon accreditation framework — to which Addis Ababa, Nairobi, and Accra airports are already committed — provides a credentialing pathway that Lagos's airports will need to pursue if they are to access green bond markets and climate finance instruments at competitive rates.
People Also Ask
What is a green airport finance model? A green airport finance model is a funding structure that combines public investment, private concession capital, multilateral climate finance, and sovereign infrastructure funds to build and operate airports with low-carbon design features — including solar energy, energy-efficient terminals, SAF infrastructure, electric ground fleets, and climate-resilient physical design. Green airport finance models enable airports to meet both growing passenger demand and increasingly stringent international environmental standards without relying exclusively on government budgets.
How is the MMIA Terminal 1 renovation being funded? The ₦712 billion Terminal 1 renovation at Murtala Muhammed International Airport is being funded entirely from Nigeria's Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund — a sovereign infrastructure investment vehicle. Unlike earlier airport upgrades that relied on Chinese Exim Bank sovereign loans, the current renovation is fully domestically financed, with FAAN targeting a 22-month completion timeline and a capacity increase to approximately 17.6 million passengers annually.
What is the Lekki-Epe International Airport PPP model? The Lekki-Epe International Airport is being developed under a Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Manage public-private partnership model, with Lagos State Government providing land and regulatory approvals while the private partner — Summa Group, an internationally renowned construction firm — leads design, financing, and construction. The airport will sit on a 3,500-hectare site, accommodate five million passengers in its first phase, and is designed to handle the Airbus A380, making it a Code F-compliant facility with an explicit climate responsibility design mandate.
What role does Sustainable Aviation Fuel play in Lagos airport sustainability? Sustainable Aviation Fuel is critical to decarbonising Lagos's aviation sector, with IATA estimating it could deliver 65% of the aviation emission reductions needed by 2050. However, Nigerian airlines face significant cost barriers to SAF adoption. The joint commitment by the EIB, EBRD, and African Development Bank to scale SAF infrastructure in Africa — combined with the AU's Continental SAF Strategy — provides a multilateral finance pathway for a SAF blending and distribution hub at the Lekki airport complex, turning Lagos into a potential SAF anchor for West Africa.
How does the Lekki airport connect to the broader Lagos transport network? The Lekki-Epe International Airport is explicitly linked to the Lagos Green Line rail project, which will connect Marina through Victoria Island to the Lekki corridor — providing direct public transport access to the airport from central Lagos. This multimodal integration — combining rail, BRT, waterway, and air — is both a climate feature (reducing car-based airport access trips) and a commercial one, generating the passenger volumes that make private airport investment financially viable.
Future of Green Airport Finance in Smart Cities
The global trajectory for airport investment is unambiguously toward climate integration. The African Union has unveiled a $30 billion green aviation plan designed to transform Africa's airspace, positioning African airports as testbeds for circular materials, electric air-side equipment, and SAF blending logistics linked to the continent's emerging biofuel ecosystem.
Africa accounts for roughly 2% of global air traffic today yet carries nearly 18% of the world's population — a mismatch that has held back intra-continental trade, tourism, and investment. With passenger numbers forecast to rise from an estimated 160 million in 2024 to nearly half a billion by 2050, the timing of green airport investment is strategic.
For Lagos specifically, two converging forces will define the green airport finance landscape over the next decade. First, the maturation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will dramatically increase intra-African air cargo and passenger demand — disproportionately through Lagos as West Africa's dominant aviation hub. Second, the European Union's ReFuelEU Aviation Regulation mandating SAF blending on European-destined flights creates a regulatory pressure that will accelerate SAF infrastructure investment at African airports serving European routes — of which MMIA serves the largest volume in West Africa.
The Lekki airport's climate responsibility design mandate, combined with its integration into the Green Line rail corridor, the Lekki Free Trade Zone, and the Lekki Deep Seaport, positions it as the most credible candidate for Africa's first fully integrated green aviation-logistics hub — a facility designed not just to move people but to anchor a low-carbon economic development corridor.
What Lagos is building — imperfectly, expensively, and with characteristic ambition — is a green aviation gateway for a continent that cannot afford to get this transition wrong.
The Runway to a Greener Lagos Sky
The ₦712 billion being spent on MMIA Terminal 1 and the $450–900 million being structured for the Lekki-Epe International Airport are not simply infrastructure investments. They are finance model experiments — live tests of whether Lagos can assemble the public-private-multilateral coalitions needed to build climate-responsible aviation infrastructure at the scale its growing economy demands.
Every solar panel installed on a terminal roof, every SAF blend agreement signed with an African biorefinery, every green bond issued against airport revenue streams, and every rail connection delivered to an airport departure gate is Lagos answering the most important question in African aviation: can the continent grow its skies and protect its climate at the same time?
The runway is being prepared. The financing is being structured. The answer is being built.
Want to follow Lagos's full infrastructure transformation story? Read our in-depth features on how the Lekki corridor is reshaping Lagos's economic geography, the multimodal transport network connecting rail, water, and air in Lagos, and Nigeria's aviation sector investment outlook through 2030 — all on the blog.
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