Single Air Transport: Nigeria, Others, Target 2017

The Secretary-General,
African Airlines Association, (AFRAA), Elijah Shingosho has said Nigeria, Egypt, Morocco, South Africa and Rwanda are at the verge of meeting the target of having a single air transport market by the end of January, 2017.
Mr Shingosho disclosed the possibility is very high considering the fact that these nations are ready to implement the Yamousoukro Declaration that calls for African countries to open up their skies for more flights from African airlines.
Speaking on the effort to liberalise the aviation zone by the end of January, 2017, recently the AFRAA Secretary-general stated that the sector has the potential to double its size in five years.
He hinted that eight countries which collectively control 85 per cent of Africa’s air traffic, planned to open their skies to other African airlines.
According to Shingosho, “Nigeria, Egyp, Ethiopia, Morocco, Kenya, South Africa, Rwanda and Zimbabwe are ready to meet the target. We are likely to achieve the target of having a single African air transport market by the end of January, 2017”.
He observed that the main challenge to opening African skies is from nations wishing to protect inefficient national carriers from foreign competition, saying that some of these inefficient airlines lobby their governments not to allowing competition from other African airlines.
In his own words: “However, we try to convince these governments that competition is good for everybody because it will eventually improve the innovativeness of the sector”.