Cross section of Mile 1 Market traders who were beneficiaries of an empowerment programme organised by member of House of Representatives, Hon (Mrs) Blessing Nsiegbe in Port Harcourt last Monday. Photo: Prince Dele Obinna

Afreximbank  has urged
African governments to scale up aviation infrastructure funding to attract investments to the sector .
The President of the bank, Mr Jean-Luis Ekra, who made the call at the African Aviation Summit 2014 in Addis Ababa, said the non-African airlines dominance in its airspace was a setback.
Represented by the bank’s Head of External Communication, Mr Obi Emekekwue, Ekra said the non-African airlines had generated about 10 billion dollars a year from plying African routes.
This is according to 2012 Airline Economics report.
According to him, the industry, in 2010, supported about seven million jobs in Africa through direct and indirect support to activities in the travel and tourism industries.
“It is further projected that the industry will grow in terms of its impact on African economies in the next 20 years and job creation is forecast to be around 879,000’’ according to AfDB 2012 report.
He added that the volume of African airline business is expected to treble in the next 20 years from its current level to about 200 billion dollars.
Ekra said aviation finance was imperative for effective trade development, particularly to create more employment above the seven million reported in 2010.
He said in spite of the potential contribution of the aviation industry to trade development across the continent, the performance of the sector lagged behind than the rest of the world.
He, however, noted that the demand for air transport services in Africa had increased steadily in recent years.
“Passenger numbers and freight traffic grew by 45 per cent and 80 per cent respectively between 2011 and 2012.
“It is projected that at 6.1 per cent, Africa will be the third fastest growing region with regard to international traffic by 2015.
“The growth rates for other regions are Middle East 7.9 per cent; Asia Pacific 6.9 per cent  Europe, 5.0 per cent  and North America, 4.9 per cent while the global rate is expected to be 5.8 per cent’’, according to the AfDB (2012).
He said the bank being a trade finance institution, was aware of the role of trade in the continent’s developmental agenda and its critical contribution to national and continent’s development.
“The development of national economies is closely tied to the efficiency of the transport system.
“An efficient transportation system promotes intra and inter-sector as well as geographical linkages, thereby ensuring the movement of goods and services from one sector or geographic location to the other’’, he said.