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Economic news for Thursday, February 4, 2021
Source: aviationghana.com
02/04/2021
The AfCFTA Secretariat is located in Ghana-West Africa
The protectionist aviation policies of several African countries threaten the full realization of the benefits of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
AfCFTA connects 1.3 billion people in 55 countries with a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) valued at US $ 3.4 trillion.
However, how to transport goods quickly and efficiently and facilitate the movement of people in this free trade area without the full implementation of the AU Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) remains a major issue.
Some AU member countries have policies in place to protect airlines registered in their respective countries.
Sean Mendis, commercial aviation expert in a recent interview with AviaDev which was monitored by AviationGhana noted that: “The Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) will not happen until there is true reciprocity.
“Too many African countries have joined SAATM to reap the benefits of openskies, but continue to maintain protectionist regimes at home to protect their failing national carriers. Useless bureaucracy is also a form of protectionism. “
SAATM is a flagship program of the AU’s Agenda 2063 which aims to create a single liberalized air market for the movement of people and goods on the African continent.
It provides a framework for the protection of consumer rights, fair competition between participating players and a platform for dispute resolution.
The SAATM should have been implemented by 2017, but only 21 countries, including Ghana, had signed the SAATM in 2017.
In the absence of SAATM, bilateral services agreements are used by countries to strengthen commercial aviation and business activities.
Richard Kyereh, aviation expert at the Aviation Policy Think Tank, Center for Aviation Policy and Development, Africa (CAPDAfrica) told AviationGhana that the benefits of BASA as a whole cannot in any way be equated with SAATM in terms of general integration of Africans. through interconnectivity.
“For the AfCFTA to be indeed a true game changer, then the SAATM aspect of things needs to be considered as soon as possible,” he said.
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