African airlines are not taking advantage of the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM), an African Union (AU) initiative launched in January this year, according to International Air Transport Association (Iata) regional head for airline and relations: Africa & Middle East, Adefunke Adeyemi.
“Currently in Africa only two countries, Ethiopia and Kenya, have direct connections to over half of the continent. In South Africa, and the rest of Africa, there is much opportunity to improve intra-African connectivity,” she said, pointing out that this would come with deregulation of African skies.
Iata vice-president for Africa, Raphael Kuuchi, agreed, telling FTW that he saw the SAATM as complementary to the recently launched programme to create the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
This could create a market of 1.7 billion people, with a total business and personal spending capacity of more than $6.7 trillion by 2030.
“The SAATM is a bold initiative aimed at stimulating demand and improving the competitiveness of Africa’s airlines.” He said that this would enable higher volumes of trade, expand tourism, and grow commerce among African nations and with the rest of the world.
“This socio-economic imperative ought to be a compelling incentive for African governments to adopt the principles of, and participate in, the SAATM,” commented Kuuchi.
