AMCON recovers 70% of N4 trillion bad debts

The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) revealed that it has successfully recovered more than 70 per cent of the N4 trillion in bad debts from debtors, despite prevailing concerns related to interest rates.

Ahmed Kuru, MD/CEO of AMCON made this known while speaking to newsmen in Lagos on Monday.

He noted that the original funding plan of AMCON was 10 years and that there was the assumption that the banking industry would grow at the rate of 20 per cent.

Nevertheless, he highlighted that the banking sector’s growth has been below 5 per cent for the past seven to eight years.

There is a general feeling that AMCON is killing businesses, but he said that is not true. We have put in money in some businesses that we felt could survive but some didn’t work out.

A lot of recovery has been made but it looks like there is no impact because of the interest rate on the loans.

In the meantime, AMCON has reported that it has transferred the responsibility for renewing the Air Operating Certificate (AOC) process to an investor as the AOC’s expiration date approaches.

In an attempt to recoup the N300 billion debt incurred by Arik Air during Joseph Arumemi-Ikhide’s time as its founder, AMCON opted to set up an independent airline, NG Eagle and repositioned the assets within this fresh venture.

He explained that AMCON invested almost two years in the procedural requirements.

However, their efforts were impeded by allegations that the airline was intended to serve as a national carrier, causing delays in the airline’s launch, despite having obtained the AOC.

Kuru, however, hinted that AMCON is ready to negotiate ownership with the leadership of Arik.

He said:

He further shared that upon AMCON’s takeover of Arik Air, they discovered seven aircraft on the ground, indicating that these planes were not in serviceable condition due to either cannibalization or vandalism.