L  L  News & Industry Affairs / Africa

       L  Africa News

Spotlight / 2023 

News / 2023  

  L  Fastest growing economies in 2024? It's all about Africa 
November 28, 2023. Cem Perdar for The New Times.

According to the World Bank predictions the African countries are expected to grow the most in 2024 

As we approach the end of 2023, statistics for 2024 are being shared on many economic platforms. In many global markets, where significant ups and downs were experienced in 2020, the fact that big economies also have big problems was once again displayed before our eyes. In addition, we also face the fact that medium and low-sized economies, which are among many developing countries, will make significant moves and start 2024 with serious growth expectations. Read more... 

  L  African airline funds trapped in some countries 
November 24, 2023. Southern Africa's Freight News.

Vital unrepatriated funds from a number of African countries, amounting to $1.68 billion, are currently trapped in Africa which is hampering the development of the aviation sector on the continent, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). 
    Speaking at the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) 55th Annual General Meeting in Entebbe, Uganda, Iata’s regional vice president of Africa and Middle East, Kamil Al Alwadi, said the trapped funds had hit $1.68bn at the end of September. Read more...

  L  Free routing airspace in Africa inches closer to reality after successful trial 
November 4, 2023. Airspace Africa.

Cooperation, collaboration, and commitment of stakeholders, including CANSO, AFRAA, IATA, ICAO, and Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs), made free routing flights a reality for the first time in Africa on 2 November 2023. In the Free Routing Airspace (FRA) Trial kick-off workshop, participants coordinated with all relevant operational services and secured approvals for the two trial flights. Shortening the flight time, flights ET935 and KQ 508 operated safely outside the existing routes directly from Addis Ababa to Abidjan and Nairobi to Accra, respectively. Read more...

  L  IATA joins forces with FAA, ICAO & more to improve aviation safety in Africa 
June 23, 2023. Tatenda Karuwa for Simple Flying.

Safety is one of the critical areas of the Focus Africa initiative

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is launching a new program to enhance safety in the aviation industry. The Collaborative Aviation Safety Improvement Program (CASIP) will significantly reduce the rate of accidents and fatal incidents across the continent. 
    The program is part of the IATA Focus Africa initiative and was first announced in Addis Ababa in the presence of most African aviation stakeholders. Focus Africa is meant to enhance aviation's contribution to the continent's development, and safety is one of the critical areas that must be addressed. Read more... 

  L  African Airlines: Sustainability Comes After Survivability 
June 20, 2023. Tatenda Karuwa for Simple Flying.

Aviation stakeholders have been working together for several years to reduce the impact of air travel on the environment. Sustainability has been the top priority, with airlines, airports, and manufacturers investing millions in research, new aircraft technology, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), and other emission reduction initiatives. Although it is a top priority, not every airline can afford to invest the same funds to implement these environmental solutions. It is even more difficult in Africa, where carriers face significantly high operating costs due to insufficient infrastructure and a weakening economic climate. Read more...

  L  5 reasons why Africa is the new “It Travel Destination” for 2023 
April 16, 2023. Forbes.

The recent Colour your World: Africa Travel Week Trend Report [pdf] released during the World Travel Market Africa conference in Cape Town outlines the key reasons that Africa is ready to hit (and maybe even exceed) its pre-Covid stride. Read more...

  L  Count down begins for Africa’s Travel Indaba 
April 4, 2023. Travel Daily News.

A new look Africa’s Travel Indaba is set to re-energise delegates from across the world when the show takes place in Durban from 8 to 11 May. Read more...

  L  Africa's logistics sector set to deliver results as free trade agreement kicks in  
March 21, 2023. WEF News.

Intra-African trade has long struggled to cope with the continent's inadequate logistics and freight sector. But, as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement kicks in, freight and logistics are expected to see an influx of investment to cater for a wider economic expansion on the continent. 
    African logistics have struggled to cater to the continents growing population and dynamic private sector for far too long. New research suggests that is about to change — and the benefits for the continent’s wider economy could be transformative.s. Read more...

  L  Tanzania defers SAATM accession  
January 16, 2023. CH Aviation News.

Tanzania will not join the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) in the next five years, according to the country's Permanent Transport Secretary Gabriel Migire. 
    "Liberalisation of African skies is a good idea, but we need to open it strategically. Let's give ourselves five years to pave the way to preparing local operators to compete fairly..." Read more...

  L  African airline recovery hinges on infrastructure, innovation and partnership  
January 8, 2023. Siphokuhle Mathe for BusinessDay.

Issues of fuel costs and interest rates are among the challenges in unlocking the industry’s potential on the continent

Intracontinental trade excites futurists surveying investment opportunities in Africa. Central to ensuring investment opportunities are seized, individual countries and private capital partners start feasibility studies by looking at the infrastructure landscape. Regarding trade across borders, the transport sector is key to unlocking these opportunities. Read more...

  L  Addressing aviation’s value chain in Africa  
January 3, 2023. Kelvin Osa Okunbor for The Nation.

As global air transportation recovers from the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic, regulators on the continent’s value chain are sizing up the landscape for air transportation as authorities look into issues erecting a clog to growth. Read more...

Spotlight / 2022  

News / 2022 

  L  Is tourism the answer to rebuilding Africa’s aviation industry?

December 12, 2022. Aerotime Hub.

As global air travel positions to outperform 2019 levels, there is a surge in initiatives across Africa’s aviation industry to improve domestic and international air connectivity and increase air traffic within Africa and between Africa and neighboring regions.

The trends emerging in pursuit of this focus, while being implemented on a state-by-state basis, reveal a strong correlation between Africa’s air travel recovery and growth, and tourism in and out of the continent.

These trends can be classified under three main areas:

  • African states respond to international tourism demand with initiatives to improve tourism channels.
  • Increasing Foreign-Direct Investments (FDI) and Public-Private-Partnerships (PPP) in Africa’s aviation sector.
  • African airlines restructure to adopt operating models better suited to their regions traffic. Read more...

  L  Africa must industrialize: 10 key points that African leaders committed to at the just concluded summit on industrialization and economic diversification

December 2, 2022. African Business.

With increasingly growing concern over the slow progress in the implementation of the Industrial Development Decades for Africa (IDDA) I, II and III; the Strategy for the Implementation of the Action Plan for Accelerated Industrial development of Africa (AIDA); and other continental strategies and programmes relevant to industrialization, structural transformation and development towards the achievement of the African Union Agenda 2063, African leaders have committed to far-reaching and firm decisions to accelerate industrialization, economic diversification and trade on the continent, with full ownership by the citizens. Read more...

  L  AFCAC SAATM PIP Launch: Acceleration of Air Transport Liberalization in Africa to improve Continental Connectivity and Integration

November 14, 2022. AFCAC Press Release.

23rd Anniversary of the Yamoussoukro Decision (YD) Day Event

Africa Launches Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) Pilot Implementation Project (PIP) with 15 States ready and willing to fully implement SAATM

Dakar, Senegal.  15 African Ministers of Transport and Aviation today, 14 November 2022 met in Dakar Senegal to launch the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) Pilot Implementation Project (PIP). The project was launched by the Honourable Minister of Rail, Road and Aviation of the Republic of Togo H.E. Affoh Atcha-Dedji who is the Champion State of SAATM, with the Honourable Minister of Aviation and Airport Infrastructure of Senegal H.E. Doudou Ka as Chief Host. 
    The 15 SAATM States are the States that have been identified with favourable environment to proceed with SAATM implementation. They are Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroun, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Togo and Zambia. All these States have domestic carriers eligible to participate in the SAATM. Read more...

  L  AFRAA Secretary General addresses the 52nd AASA AGA on the future of African airlines
October 14, 2022. AFRAA News.

AFRAA Secretary General – Mr. Abdérahmane Berthé, addressed the 52nd AGM of the Association of Airlines of Southern Africa (AASA) on 14 October 2022, Cape Town – South Africa.

Constraints impacting African Airlines’ growth prospects include:

  • African airlines operate with an average lower load factor than the world average.
  • African operators’ average cost of the available seat-kilometer (CASK) is very high compared to other regions.
  • Competing for market shares, African airlines charge less US Cents per Passenger-Kilometer-Carried than other regions’ air carriers on equivalent travel distances.
  • Despite this, the average fare of passenger tickets in Africa, including taxes, is higher on equivalent travel distances.
  • Consequently, with high fares and lower GDP per capita, air transport is not affordable for African citizens. Read more...

  L  How will Africa increase air cargo market share as recovery gears up?
July 18, 2022. Logistics Update Africa.

Current aviation market trends and data points suggest that aviation is slowly and steadily getting back to what it was pre-pandemic. Going forward, how will Africa’s air cargo industry deal with the headwinds and tailwinds it is experiencing?

The air cargo industry in Africa benefited from the strong demand for vaccines and other medical and humanitarian supplies needed to combat the Covid-19 pandemic which ravaged the aviation industry from early 2020. To enhance their capacity to meet the unusual demand, Africa's cargo airlines, namely Kenya Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, Astral Aviation as well as Allied Air and Egypt Air acquired converted cargo aircraft. Read more...

  L  African airlines will need to recruit 63,000 new workers, as the continent's aviation industry is set to hit $400 billion valuation by 2040  
May 25, 2022. Business Insider Africa

  • Africa's commercial aviation market is projected to hit a valuation of $400 billion by 2040.
  • Growth will be driven by factors such as increased trade, more travel agreements and a considerable increase in the region's middle class.
  • To meet the expected increase in air travel demand, African airlines will have to significantly increase their fleet size and workforce. 

African airlines will need to recruit some 63,000 new professionals (including pilots, technicians and cabin crew members) over the next twenty years in order to ensure optimal service delivery. 
    This is one of the key growth projections that were made about the continent's commercial aviation industry by Boeing, as contained in its recently released Commercial Market Outlook. Read more...

  L  African economic and air traffic growth surpasses global average
May 12, 2022. Freight News.

Tourism and intraregional trade will continue to be key growth sectors for Africa and drive GDP growth.

African airlines will require 1 100 new passenger and freight aircraft deliveries by 2040, according to the latest 2021 - 2040 Airbus Global Market Forecast (GMF). This will take the total fleet to 1 440 from a 2019 fleet baseline of 680 aircraft. 
    "During this period, the fleet in the region will transition to new-generation types such as the A220, A320neo family, A330neo and A350, bringing significant efficiency improvement and a corresponding reduction in carbon emissions per passenger," Airbus said in an official statement. 
    Airbus forecasts that the projected growth in the continent’s economy will push up air traffic to achieve a full recovery to 2019 levels between late 2023 and early 2025. 
    Air cargo is currently already operating at 9% above pre-crisis levels globally, and 23% above this level in Africa. Read more...

  L  Africa’s transport sector to strongly benefit from AfCFTA
February 11, 2022. EngineeringNews.co.za

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is expected to increase intra-African trade in transport services by nearly 50% by 2030, the latest estimates by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) show. 

The estimates contained in the ‘Implications of the AfCFTA for demand for transport, infrastructure and services’ report indicate that, with AfCFTA in place, in absolute terms, more than 25% of intra-African trade gains in services would go to transport alone, and nearly 40% of the increase in Africa’s services production would be in transport. 
    “The AfCFTA is expected to significantly increase traffic flows on all transport modes, including road, rail, maritime and air, but such gains will only be optimised if the AfCFTA is accompanied by implementation of regional infrastructure projects,” says UN under-SG and ECA executive secretary Vera Songwe. Read more...