AFRICA
WHY GOVERNMENTS SHOULD
EMBRACE LIBERALISM There is surely no one who cannot see the benefits open skies have brought in Europe, so just imagine what it could do for Africa
The Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) was first proposed in 2018, but so far only 28 of 54 recognised countries have signed up. The African Union is behind the idea, backed by IATA, with both keen to raise the current level of air travel on the continent, in which only 10 per cent of the population participates. Cost and a lack of connec-
tivity are the main problems, which open skies supporters say can be alleviated by liberalisation to encourage new city-pair links. Some foreign carriers are
taking advantage of the lack of connectivity and home- grown carriers, with Qatar Airways, for example, offering 17 African destinations from Doha. Akbar Al Baker, its group chief executive, told a summit in Rwanda that although Africa makes up 16 per cent of the world’s pop- ulation, it has only 3 per cent of the world’s air travellers. “Governments should
leave behind protectionist approaches to regulating aviation and embrace liberalisation,” he urged. IATA believes African
countries should embrace open skies “without worrying about what others are doing”. Raphael Kuuchi, IATA’s regional vice-president for Africa, says the industry “is still punching below its weight” and that aviation can act as an impetus for eco- nomic growth by boosting intra-African trade. IATA plans to analyse
where the gaps are in Africa’s aviation market and speaking
88 JULY/AUGUST 2019
in Cape Town recently, Kuuchi said adopting a single market would put Africa’s airlines on a more equal footing globally. “In this way, African airlines
will have a bigger ‘local market’ that can keep them on a similar competitive advantage compared to Eu- ropean airlines, for instance, which operate in a single European market.” Actually getting some-
thing done, however, may take some time. Of the 28 countries supporting SAATM, only 14 have signed a Mem- orandum of Implementation. IATA now plans to undertake a study of the economic benefits SAATM will bring to each country that adopts it, but clearly, there is some convincing to be done. Claude Vankeirsbilck,
Tourvest’s chief operating officer, is not optimistic. “You never know what African governments are agreeing to. In the very short term, I don’t think we will see anything different,” he says. If open skies becomes
reality, the issue of visas, which often determines when a passenger can actually travel, remains a vexed one. Similarly, there is slow progress with the African Union passport, first mooted in 2016. It would benefit local corporate travellers enor- mously, but is still restricted to heads of states and leading officials, and Africans still need visas to visit more than half the continent. The hurdles are many,
and it’s time the issues were tackled head on.
THE AVERAGE
ECONOMY IS GROWING AT OVER 3 PER CENT. AFRICA IS VERY OPEN FOR BUSINESS
for Hilton and Marriott. Nigeria-based W Hospitality Group’s research puts Egypt’s tourism-led 51 developments at the top of the 2019 list, but business destinations also show strong growth. Nigeria is in second place, with 49 properties and almost 8,000 rooms planned, while Ethiopia has 34 in the pipeline, Algeria 19 and South Africa 18. Claude Vankeirsbilck, chief operating officer at Johannesburg-based Tourvest, says construction is a boom industry, particularly in Kenya and Botswana, but believes this era may be coming to a close. “It’s absolutely being driven by China, but I’m not too sure that investment is going to continue at the rate of the last few years,” he says. Vankeirsbilck points to Angola and Mo- zambique as corporate travel hotspots, while vast offshore natural gas deposits are being developed at South Africa’s Mossel Bay. He, too, is frustrated by the lack of connectivity and cost of flying. “There’s a concentration on low-cost and regional carri- ers emerging, but the public are cautious, as many don’t have safety accreditation.” Another hindrance, he says, is govern- ment-operated and monopolistic airports. “Airlines are charged more and ultimately the customers pay. It makes some of the routes among the most expensive in the world.” Then there is the cost of making a booking. Visas are expensive and difficult to obtain and there’s an inability to make payments across borders. “Less than 50 per cent of our content is bookable on content distribution systems; we have to do it manually. It takes longer and is more expensive,” Vankeirsbilck adds. However, BCD’s Dumasi is adamant corpo-
rate travellers should not be deterred. “The average economy is growing at over 3 per cent. Africa is very open for business,” she says.
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