To drive economic growth and competitiveness in Africa, there was an urgent need for the continent’s airport operators and governments to collaborate, Airports Company South Africa acting MD Bongani Maseko has said.

“The benefit we have, is that all spheres of government are realising the concrete need for transport infrastructure to unlock economic value,” he said at the Airport Cities World Conference and Exhibition, in Johannesburg.

Also addressing delegates, KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Development and Tourism Michael Mabuyakhulu noted that the African continent was the next growth frontier after Asia, as it housed six of the fastest-growing economies in the world.

“The African Development Bank states that, by 2060, Africa will have the most thriving economies, which will have outgrown some of the economies in the developed parts of the world – this presents ample opportunity,” he added.

However, Mabuyakhulu pointed out that this could only be realised if policymakers, investors and the private sector understood that Africa’s new growth trajectory was going to be driven by, in large part, airport cities.

“Port cities have driven growth in the world and still do, as 90% of global cargo is still transported through shipping. But the future now lies in the aeronautical business and airport cities,” he added.

In addition to Ekurhuleni, plans were in place in Durban to develop an aerotropolis around the King Shaka International Airport (KSIA), north of the city.

Mabuyakhulu said the aim was to transform the KSIA into an economic hub and a gateway into the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region to
stimulate economic growth.

He indicated that the province had various logistical advantages to execute this goal, in that it had good road, rail, air and sea transport infrastructure.

“We have the two biggest ports [the Port of Durban and the Port of Richards Bay] in South Africa that handle almost 80% of the country’s imports and exports. Inbetween the two ports, we have the Dube TradePort, which incorporates the KSIA,” he said, adding that the region was also set to benefit from 15 of the South African government’s 18 strategic integrated projects.

“We [KwaZulu-Natal] would like to use South Africa’s position in the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa group of countries and other international forums to promote and grow regional interest,” Mabuyakhulu stated.

Further, he noted that the province was considering ways to link with nine additional capitals in the SADC region to position the KSIA as a hub for processing time-sensitive goods. The province already had air connectivity with Harare, Zimbabwe; Lusaka, Zambia; and Maputo, Mozambique.

Further, the province’s focus would also be to have the Dube TradePort and KwaZulu-Natal aerotropolis declared a special economic zone so it could benefit from industry support measures offered by national government.

Mabuyakhulu urged South Africa to think creatively around the question of an ‘open skies policy’ and noted that KwaZulu-Natal could provide a pilot for the country in this regard, as it had a well-measured approach in opening up local skies to the rest of the world.

Meanwhile, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria president and CEO George Uriesi highlighted that, despite air transport being virtually the only means of transport in Africa, the domestic and regional air transport markets remained underdeveloped.

“Less than one in every 20 Africans have no access to air transport today. This presents a huge opportunity,” he said.

In Nigeria, airport development projects started at the beginning of last year, basically the first since the 1970s and 1980s.

Nothwithstanding Nigeria’s negative airport legacy, Uriesi stated that the country presented promising opportunities, being highly populated with good tourism and business potential. Additional airport-enhancing projects were also in the pipeline.

“We have designated six airports in proximity to specific food baskets in the country and we are developing international-standard perishable cargo facilities at these designated airports to be ready by the end of 2014. In the mean time, we have set up a cargo division.

“Nigeria is taking its rightful place in promoting economic development in the country and continent. We have thriving aerotropoli at various stages of development that are being rolled out so that the airports can become singular economic units in the regions they serve,” Uriesi said.