Africa Must Speed Up Efforts To Open Its Skies, Aviation Experts Say

Air travel is the shortest, safest means of transportation yet only 10 of Africans travel by air, Adefunke Adeyemi, Executive Secretary of the African Civil Aviation Commission pointed out in a panel discussion on the margins of the ECA's Conference of African Finance Ministers.

"The benefits that aviation has brought to other parts of the world, where it's almost like mass transportation, are not being seen in Africa," she said.

The Single African Air Transport Market SAATM - a flagship initiative of the AU's 2063 Agenda that seeks to unify African skies - is seen as a solution to the low levels of intra-African air travel.

SAATM came into force in 2018. AU studies suggest that its full implementation could increase intra-African passenger traffic by 51, from 31 million to 47 million travelers, while reducing airfares by 26.

By 2025, 38 countries had signed up.