I t’s just over four months to go for the anticipated January 2018 launch of a single African air transport market, with 20 out of 55 African countries having signed the agreement. But David Kajange, head of the Transport and Tourism Division at the African Union (AU) is upbeat about the prospect of meeting the deadline noting that he “fully expects” to have the 40 signatories required to make this reality before the end of the year. A single air transport market is one of the goals of AU’s Agenda 2063, which aims to connect Africa through aviation and other transport infrastructure to achieve integration and boost intraAfrica trade. Although an African Open Skies vision has been around since the adoption of the Yamassoukro Decision of African Heads of States of 14 November 1999, the continent has failed to successfully pull this off – mainly due to a lack of policy integration. But Kajange said African leaders had finally begun to see the need for stronger air connectivity to grow trade and achieve economic growth on the continent. Another challenge has been that despite sustained economic growth on the continent between 2000 and 2014, the market share of African airlines has dropped dramatically. Kajange said Africa had become the most expensive air transport market in the world because of individual nations’ policies and regulations that hinder air connectivity.
