The minister of aviation and airspace development, Mr Festus Keyamo said the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) is a complete no-brainer to boost not only intra Africa trade and tourism, but also reduce the continent’s trade deficit by 51 per cent.
The minister made the remark in his address at the 24th anniversary of the Yamoussoukro Decision Week/SAATM-PIP holding in Abuja from November 13-16 under the theme ‘Africa wants to fly.’
Keyamo noted that Africa is the continent with the largest number of developing countries stressing that air transport is an essential component of the global transportation system and a strategic driver of economic growth and development.
Quoting statistics, he said intra Africa trade stands low at just 14.4 per cent of total African exports adding that “though African airlines have recorded a 34.7 per cent surge in passenger traffic over the past year, the continent’s global passenger market share remains modest at 2.1 per cent.
Therefore, he said the situation could improve if SAATM and the YD were implemented.
“Statistics from the Africa Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC) shows that 37 member States have so far subscribed to unconditionally implement the YD and SAATM, with 23 states signing the memorandum of implementation or its operationalisation.
“The records also show that these 37 states account for more than 88 per cent of intra-African traffic and more than 800 million people in Africa,” he said.
Keyamo expressed the hope that the “YD Anniversary Week celebration would inspire countries signatory to SAATM (and who have not done so) to further remove restrictions on air services while those who have not signed the commitment to SAATM be encouraged to voluntarily join and commit to the principles of the open skies policy.”
He said “it is a common knowledge that the success of the SAATM initiative depends on not just the commitment of individual countries, but also on collaborative efforts at the regional and continental levels.
“As we all know, SAATM is being implemented in phases with the first successful launch of the SAATM Pilot Implementation Project (PIP) Cluster 1 Coalition Road Show in Abuja, Nigeria in April 2023,” he said.
However, he noted that the challenges of deepening the activities under SAATM are obvious “but they are surmountable.”
He encouraged the participants to “take full advantage of the unique opportunity this YD Week/SAATM-PIP presents and to share your experiences and perspectives in addressing some of the challenges of air travel in Africa as well as eliminating to the barest minimum, impediments to the full and sustainable implementation of SAATM in Africa.”
Meanwhile, he informed the attendees that “Nigeria has made a commitment to the full implementation of SAATM through our commitment to SAATM-PIP,” while he had also directed that “our bilateral air services agreement (BASA) with African Countries that are signatory to SAATM be reviewed in line with the provisions of YD and the principles of reciprocity.”
Keyamo also announced that after he was made a minister, he came up with a five-point cardinal programme of strict compliance with national laws, safety regulations and international obligations; improvement and development of infrastructure for passenger convenience; support for the growth and sustenance of local airline businesses; human capacity development and optimisation of revenue generation.
