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Aviation ministers tasked on regional airlines viability
Gloria Essien, Ghana
 John Atta Mills President of Ghana
Transport and Aviation Ministers in West Africa have been urged to work out innovative mechanisms to overcome the challenges militating against the viability of regional airlines whose operations have been dogged by infrastructural deficit, poor air safety and security as well as weak cooperation.
This was contained in a message by Ghanaian President, John Atta Mills, at the opening of a high-level meeting of the ministers and the chief executives of regional airlines in Accra, Ghana.
Mr Atta Mills said such innovations should focus on improving the environment for private sector participation through the removal of non-physical barriers to investment in the aviation sector.
The President also urged the participants to propose new financing mechanisms for the development and strengthening of the industry, work out the possibility of establishing a leasing company and as well propose best tools for promoting cooperation among airlines in the African region.
Enhancing competitiveness and profitability
"This is to enhance the airlines’ competitiveness and profitability in the global market" he said.
President Atta Mills, whose message was delivered by Ghana's Minister of Transport, Alhaji Collins Dauda, highlighted the importance of the sector to the economic and physical integration of the region and the socio-economic development it would bring to Member States.
"It also plays a significant role in the promotion and strengthening of ECOWAS' regional integration agenda. In spite of the constraints to the sector over the last 50 years, it has "brought West African countries closer, linking most of the capital cities of Member Stares to the rest of the continent and contributed to the expansion and deepening of intra-African trade and tourism,” he noted.
The Yamoussoukro Decision
President Mills canvassed the need for African countries to comply faithfully with the provisions of the Yamoussoukro Decision of 2000 on the liberalization of the air transport markets which requires the progressive elimination of non-physical barriers in the industry, particularly those linked with air traffic rights, tariffs, frequencies and the capacities of air services.
The Ghanaian president pointed out that in spite of the noble objectives of the Yamoussoukro Decision, some African countries were yet to fully implement its provisions, a situation he blamed on protectionist instincts largely "because of the fear of their local aviation industry having to compete with foreign airlines".
Contrary to this fear, the President urged the countries that have not complied with the Decision to fully implement its provision, as it would result in considerable increase in the volume and frequency of flights within the region.
The President of the ECOWAS Commission, James Victor Gbeho, while addressing the participants, said that the industry had given meaning to the regional Protocol on Free Movement of Persons, Goods and Services by providing an alternative for viable, accessible and safe transport, given the state of the region’s road and railway networks.
He noted that "unfortunately, air transport was turning out to be yet another Achilles heel of free movement."
Noting that the situation was behind the ongoing initiatives by the Commission, Member States and the operators to address the problems of the sector, he said the meeting was intended to seek the ministers’ endorsement of the strategies that have been painstakingly put together by an earlier meeting of aviation experts towards ensuring a viable airline industry in the region.
James Victor Gbeho
President, ECOWAS Commission |
Regional socio-economic development
The ECOWAS president explained that the insights and profound knowledge of regional experts were instrumental in putting together the strategy that would be discussed at the expert-level meeting in Accra.
He noted that a viable air transport system would fast-track the region’s socio-
economic development through easier access within the ECOWAS space, thereby fostering improved intra- regional trade, resource exploitation and service delivery.
“Such a system would not only translate the slogan of an "ECOWAS of the People" into reality by promoting Community citizenship but will also facilitate the region’s rapid and effective integration into the global market,” he stressed.
With the collapse of some national airlines, the President said the region now lacks reliable and affordable air links between Member States resulting in dependence on "under resourced small and medium-sized airlines saddled with obsolete technology, high operating costs, poor management, a heavy debt burden and the inability to compete internationally".
It was in response to these challenges, that the Heads of State and Government directed the convening of chief executives of airlines and directors-general of civil aviation to propose concrete solutions.
The one-day meeting of the ministers considered the proposals by a preceding two-day of regional aviation experts meeting, which was also held in Accra from October 21 to 22 2011.
Williams |
