Ten African nations bear brunt of $1.2 billion airline funds blocked, per IATA
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) reported that as of the end of October 2025, USD 1.2 billion of airline revenues are still blocked by governments. These are the funds that airlines cannot send back to their home countries. Most of this amount, which is 93 percent, is in the Africa and Middle East region.
IATA points out that ten countries in the regions of Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia are the main contributors to almost 89 percent of the total blocked funds, which is about USD 1.08 billion. Based on the volume of the trapped funds, these countries are ranked as follows:
- Algeria – USD 307 million
- XAF Zone (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon) – USD 179 million
- Lebanon – USD 138 million
- Mozambique – USD 91 million
- Angola – USD 81 million
- Eritrea – USD 78 million
- Zimbabwe – USD 67 million
- Ethiopia – USD 54 million
- Pakistan – USD 54 million
- Bangladesh – USD 32 million
Firstly, these blockages are very dangerous for airlines from the operational perspective. The plays a very important role of the funds repatriation is to cover such costs as fuel,maintenance, staff salaries, global operations, which under normal circumstances would be paid for in foreign currency. As a result, when such funds are blocked, the airlines find it very difficult to, for example, maintain flights or even pay their suppliers. The Director General of IATA has asked governments to lift the obstacles to repatriation and also comply with bilateral air-service agreements.
The locations of the block funds have changed. In comparison to the time when Nigeria, as a single country, was responsible for a large share, the burden is now distributed among several countries. This rebalancing does not get rid of the problem; it just spreads the risk and pressure across multiple regions.
Although to some extent things are better now, IATA still says, the total amount blocked has only slightly increased since their last report and is still quite large. Airlines are still at risk. The blockage is a big drawback for those economies which depend on air connectivity for trade, tourism, and global integration, as it puts them on a path of slow growth.
IATA urges governments to remove all barriers to foreign exchange transactions immediately, relax their foreign-exchange policies, and allow airlines to use their revenues in full. If they do not, trust will deteriorate; connectivity will be reduced and passengers, airlines and national economies will be the ultimate victims. Time is running out. If nothing is done urgently, both air travel and commerce may face further downward spiral.