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Implementation of Yamoussoukro Decision vital to aviation industry

Photo by Duane Daws

Dipuo Peters

Photo by Duane Daws

21st January 2015

By: Megan van Wyngaardt

Creamer Media Contributing Editor Online

  

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There are a number of challenges that will face the African aviation industry in 2015, but it seems that the biggest of these would be the lack of implementation of the Yamoussoukro Declaration of 1988 and its subsequent Yamoussoukro Decision, in 1999.

The declaration advocated the liberalisation of African air services and for “open skies” in Africa, which would translate into more competition and more African players in the marketplace, greater options for travellers and lower fares.

Speaking at a Ministerial Working Group on air transport in Africa, on Wednesday, South African Transport Minister Dipuo Peters noted that “political gatekeeping” was creating the greatest impediment to the implementation of the Yamoussokro Decision.

“As a result, the performance of the African aviation industry is still lagging behind the rest of the world,” she added.

Meanwhile, International Air Transport Association (Iata) Africa VP Raphael Kuuchi told Engineering News Online, on the sidelines of the event, that the implementation of the decision had taken longer than expected “as many countries did not have any competition regulation at the time of introduction. Even today, these countries do not have regulations, so other countries are quite hesitant [to do business]”, he explained.

Kuuchi pointed out that one of the countries that was currently declining to accept the decision was Angola, as it was in the process of developing its own national airline programme and did not want to partake in the decision until it could compete with other countries.

To date, 44 African countries had agreed to deregulate air services and encourage regional air markets by allowing transnational competition.

Peters highlighted that the implementation of the Yamoussoukro Decision would not only benefit intra-African trade, but if only 12 nations were to implement the decision, it would accrue countless benefits for the continent.

Citing an Iata report published in July 2014, Peters said Algeria, Angola, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia and Uganda were identified as key countries.

“The additional services generated by liberalisation between these 12 key markets will provide an extra 155 000 jobs and $1.3-billion in yearly gross domestic product,” she highlighted.

Peters emphasised that almost five-million passengers a year were being denied the chance to travel between these markets, as a result of unnecessary restriction on the establishment of air routes.

OTHER CHALLENGES
Peters pointed out that the demand for air transport had increased steadily over the past few years, from 2010 to 2015, with passenger numbers and freight traffic growing by 45% and 80%, respectively.

However, she noted that other challenges such as poor safety and security records,a lack of adequate resources and infrastructure, distance and limited connectivity, lack of regulation and government actions were also hampering growth.

“Air transportation plays a vital role in any country’s growth process [as it accelerates the] convergence of goods and persons . . .[Therefore,] addressing these challenges could significantly unlock the industry’s potential for future growth . . . [while] developing the aviation industry may also represent an opportunity to mitigate chronic transport shortages faced by the 16 landlocked countries [on the continent],” Peters added.

Further, the tendency of African countries to sign blanket bilateral agreements with the Middle East and European countries, she said, “erodes the spirit of African liberalisation as advocated by the Yamoussoukro Declaration”.

African countries should first link with their own neighbouring countries before forging links with other countries, she suggested.

Edited by Tracy Hancock
Creamer Media Contributing Editor

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