Lack of air connectivity stymies regional growth

Failure to liberalise intra-Africa
air routes is costing sub-Saharan
Africa’s major airlines millions of
dollars, according to International
Air Transport Association senior
economist James Wiltshire.
“Airlines have the power and
potential to transform economic
growth in Africa – and the key to
unlocking that growth is air service
liberalisation and improved air
connectivity between neighbours,”
Wiltshire told delegates at last week’s
Iata Aviation Day Africa conference
in Sandton.
Iata formally launched the
96-page report, ‘Transforming
Intra-African Air Connectivity: The
Economic Benefits of Implementing
the Yamassoukro Decision’ at the
conference and received endorsement
from South Africa’s Minister of
Transport, Dipuo Peters as well as
her Ghanaian counterpart, Dzifa
Ativor.
Peters said that the South African
government was committed to
pushing for improved aviation
inter-connectivity in Africa. “We
are currently negotiating bi-lateral
trade agreements with a number
of countries on the continent
– including improved air route
networks,” she said. “Currently it
is very difficult for people on the
continent to do business as they
often have to fly to another African
country via Europe or the Middle
East simply to deliver goods or have
a business meeting as the routes are
not there.”
She said it was currently more
cost-effective to do business on a
global scale than on a regional or
continental one. “This needs to
change to ensure broader economic
transformation in Africa,” noted
Peters. She told FTW on the sidelines
of the conference that government
was making headway in its plans to
reposition South Africa’s national
carrier, South African Airways
(SAA), as a major aviation player
on the African continent. “We hope
to see results on SAA’s economic
turnaround strategy in two or three
years,” she said.