• Africa leads global airline revenue blockages, IATA says

• Algeria tops list as Africa, Middle East hold 93%

• Currency controls, instability worsen airline fund repatriation issues

Africa remained the world’s main hotspot for blocked airline revenues as of the end of October 2025. According to the latest update from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Africa and the Middle East together account for nearly 93% of the $1.2 billion in airline funds blocked across 26 countries.

Fifteen countries hold a combined $1.08 billion of these funds, including 12 African states accounting for $857 million.

Algeria tops the global list with $307 million owed to airlines. It is followed by a group of six Central African countries, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, with a combined total of $179 million. Other countries with significant amounts of blocked funds include Mozambique ($91 million), Angola ($81 million), Eritrea ($78 million), Zimbabwe ($67 million) and Ethiopia ($54 million).

While the global picture shows a modest improvement, with blocked funds down by $100 million since April 2025, the situation has worsened in several countries. IATA attributes this trend to increasingly restrictive administrative processes, particularly in Algeria, as well as ongoing political instability in parts of the region.

“Political and economic instability are key drivers of currency restrictions across Africa and the Middle East, resulting in large sums of blocked funds. We recognise that allocating foreign exchange is a difficult policy choice, but the long-term benefits for the economy and jobs outweigh short-term financial relief,” said IATA Director General Willie Walsh.

Nigeria, long regarded as the continent’s largest debtor, said in November 2024 that it had settled nearly 98% of its outstanding obligations, previously estimated at about $850 million out of a total African backlog of $1.68 billion. The move followed the suspension of flights to the country by several international airlines, including Emirates and Etihad Airways.

IATA said the inability to repatriate airline revenues, often linked to foreign exchange controls, weakens carriers’ financial positions and disrupts airline operations in affected countries.

Henoc Dossa