AM EDITORIAL: SAATM Implementation: A Time To Work The Talks
On November 14, 2023, African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC) in collaboration with states and partners launched the SAATM pilot implementation project (PIP) under the theme “Acceleration Of Air Transport Liberalization In Africa To Improve Continental Connectivity And Integration”.
It was actually the failure of Yamoussoukro Decision (YD) that gave rise to the SAATM with a solemn declaration by about 35 African nations to forge ahead with the air transport liberalization in the continent because of the exponential benefits it brings to Africa. The aim of SAATM project was to accelerate the implementation of the YD leading to the full and sustainable implementation of SAATM.
SAATM stipulates the full liberalization of intra-African air transport services in terms of market access, traffic rights for scheduled and freight air services by eligible airlines thereby improving air services connectivity and air carrier efficiencies.
Although years after the launch of SAATM, only few indigenous airlines had operated direct flights within the West Coast for instance, AFCAC Secretary General, Olufunke Adeyemi had said during the SAATM PIP Cluster 1 Coalition Roadshow held in Abuja, Nigeria, April 2023 that “the immediate goal of AFCAC working with all the stakeholders (AUC, AFRAA, IATA, ACI, UNECA, UNWTO, RECs, etc) with support from technical and financial partners, is to improve the 5th freedom traffic penetration in Africa from the current level of 14.5% to 30% by 2025.” 2025 is a few weeks away.
She further noted that protectionism among states and airline operators wherein the state and the operators are not willing to open up the market due to competition, has presented a clog in the wheel of these plans and that competition and connectivity is necessary for the growth of the aviation industry. Aviation protectionism means preventing other airlines from operating into a country principally due to the fact that governments want to protect their national carriers. This attitude which does not give room to competition or alternative products and works against open skies principles, is a huge barrier to connectivity within Africa.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) perceives SAATM as ”a flagship project of the African Union Agenda 2063, an initiative of the African Union to create a single unified air transport market in Africa to advance the liberalization of civil aviation in Africa and act as an impetus to the continent’s economic integration agenda. SAATM will ensure aviation plays a major role in connecting Africa, promoting its social, economic and political integration and boosting intra-Africa trade and tourism as a result.”
The cost of air travel within the West and Central African sub region could be as high as the cost of flying to the continent of Europe from West Africa. Most of the 16 countries in West Africa namely Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote D’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo are not directly connected by flights to one another and this has created an isolation that is anti-developmental economically.
Air connectivity is an asset, which improves the global competitiveness of cities, states and regions. Increased air connectivity brings concrete value by making trips shorter with optimal user satisfaction at minimum prices.
Stakeholders believe that the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) initiative can help boost connectivity in Africa. The restraining policies in some of the countries and the refusal to grant fifth freedom rights constitute part of the challenges and state imposed hurdles. Meanwhile, foreign carriers are enjoying a huge chunk of the existing buoyant traffic while diplomacy, imbalanced operation of Bilateral Air Service Agreements (BASA) and aero politics tactics are used to sustain their control of the sub regional market.
In West Africa, air transport ought to come handy to help connectivity because other modes of transportation are hampered by border controls and corrupt activities of some customs and immigration personnel apart from security issues. Unfortunately, this is not the case. This difficulty in connecting one country to another, amounts to low trade volume among member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Huge losses on tourism revenue for the sub region are being recorded with hindered connectivity since interested West African tourists prefer flying directly to Europe and other continents on tourism tours than subjecting themselves to connectivity troubles. Security issues of recent years in West Africa are also restraining to interested tourists from the western world and need to be addressed by the authorities.
Poor infrastructure at some airports in West Africa is equally a disincentive to airlines that could have been interested in direct flights. “We should also invest in infrastructure to ensure safe, secure, efficient, sustainable and competitive operational environments that promote easy connectivity,” says Adeyemi..
In a communiqué issued at the end of its 1st Quarter Business Breakfast Meeting, Aviation Safety Round Table Initiative, (ASRTI), Nigeria’s foremost non-governmental organization said the granting of multiple entry points to foreign airlines depletes the meagre reserves of local airlines and hinders their growth, adding that “all the multiple frequencies that have been granted to foreign airlines should be reviewed immediately.”
To address the challenge of connectivity, ASRTI further proposed that West African countries that do not have flag carriers should see to the establishment of airlines that should be run as a private entity with transparent process of establishment.
It is encouraging that in West Africa, Air peace of Nigeria, African World Airlines (AWA) of Ghana and Asky of Togo are conducting direct and connecting scheduled flights to various destinations. However, lack of capacity of indigenous airlines is still very strong and while intrigues by individual countries in the sub-region in form of prohibitive levies and taxes, border control, as well as poor infrastructure persist, international carriers are harvesting the air travel market.
Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation & Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo (SAN) has repeatedly expressed concerns about this situation and this explains his deliberate efforts to encourage capacity for local airlines since he assumed office.
There is an urgent need for policy makers and players in Africa’s air transport industry to address the myriads of constraints to air connectivity within the region. Governments and airlines must review their policies and strategies with the mindset of collaboration in the common interest of the region. Indigenous airlines should also strive for performance reliability in order to encourage voluntary partnerships among themselves.
Although some stakeholders among regional bodies, governments and the private sector players in West Africa particularly have made policy pronouncements and signed documents as part of efforts to tackle the challenge of flight connectivity within the sub region, it has become very expedient to work the talk.AM
