Africa needs to liberalise its air transport sector, director of civil aviation in the South African Civil Aviation Authority Poppy Khoza asserted on Wednesday. She was addressing the fourth Aviation Stakeholders Convention.

"We need to implement the Yamoussoukro Decision as a matter of urgency," she affirmed. The Decision mandates the liberalisation of the continent's aviation sector. Implementation of the Decision will stimulate development, economic growth, investment and employment across the continent and should be done speedily, she argued.

"States do need to remove trade barriers from each other," she stated. "It has become clear that Africa will have to focus on benefiting from the forecast [economic] growth." Yet, while not one African country has fully implemented the Yamoussoukro Decision, 23 have signed open skies agreements with the US.

Because the implementation of the Decision has been slow and limited, its benefits have not been realised so far. "In Africa, we have the greatest number of landlocked countries in the world," she pointed out. "This increases the need for air transport."

Moreover, the continent's middle class, currently about 200-million strong, will continue to grow. "Africa has long remained an untapped source of aviation growth." It is essential that the African aviation sector benefits from this situation. But currently, 82% of intercontinental traffic to and from Africa is carried by non-African airlines. "We have only 18% market share."

"There is a growing need for fast, efficient, transport between countries, especially in Africa," she said. "If we could unite in our efforts to open up Africa, we could offer competitive tickets. As a continent, we still need to work on cheap transport."

This need for cooperation was another theme of her address. "Strong partnerships are indeed essential," highlighted Khoza. "I would encourage each country to reach out to the continent with its particular strengths." She observed that a lot of progress had already been made, including through the International Civil Aviation Organisation and its regional bodies, councils and seminars. She also cited South African technical support and specialised training for the aviation sectors of other Southern African countries. "There is a strong need for us, as an industry and a continent, to collaborate."

The Aviation Stakeholders Convention is being held at Emperor's Palace, at OR Tambo International Airport, east of Johannesburg.