Africa’s Aviation Ambitions: Growth, Obstacles, and Expert Insights

With a burgeoning middle class, increasing urbanisation, and a rising demand for air travel, there is immense potential for expanding air transportation networks across the continent. However, the sector also grapples with several challenges, including inadequate infrastructure, high operating costs, regulatory constraints, and safety concerns.

CNN International’s Eleni Giokos and Victoria Rubadiri explore the African aviation industry, which presents significant opportunities for growth, connectivity, and economic development in the latest episode of Connecting Africa, 

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One person with their finger on the pulse of the issues facing Africa’s Airlines is Kamil Al Awadhi, Regional Vice President Africa & Middle East at the International Air Transport Association (IATA). He says one of the main challenges facing the industry is that each country on the continent operates differently, “Every state has its unique issues. Predominantly, I would say the biggest issues that hamper aviation in Africa is one, the cost to operate in Africa, whether it’s fuel charges, levies, taxes, and so on. The other one is the restrictive nature of the regulatory requirements in each state. That differs very much so from the other states. So, it’s complicated to operate.”

The African Continental Free Trade Area hopes to reduce these cross-border difficulties, but Al Awadhi says the agreement is not functioning yet, “It’s not working because it is not a piece of paper that you sign and it’s going to happen overnight. You actually have to engage the country, and all the ministries in the country, and the government in the country to facilitate that to happen. Two civil aviation authorities just signing a bilateral agreement doesn’t mean anything if nobody can get a visa or if there’s no tourism.”

Kenya Airways has been expanding its cargo business to meet growing demands for air freight. Rubadiri visits its state-of-the-art cargo facility in Nairobi where she meets Dick Murianki, Director of Kenya Airways Cargo. He talks about how cargo is benefitting from the growth of online shopping, “E-commerce is going to be big and is actually catching up in Africa and we will see fulfilment centres being set up and really like this can be a fulfilment centre, where people will order their goods online and then they’re delivered or distributed from here. And not just delivered within the country, but can be delivered to a country outside Nairobi, out of Kenya, within three hours. So, we are actually at the verge of negotiating with such big players to see how we can help them grow their reach in Africa. And I believe Nairobi is well suited for that.”

Murianki continues, “I’m a true believer that Africa needs to trade more with itself. I’d love to have a situation where we are trading among ourselves in Africa more, so that my aircraft can leave Nairobi, go to Lusaka with whatever it is carrying, come back with cargo either terminating in Nairobi or joining our other destinations. So really, I’m a true believer that the African Continental Free Trade Area, once it’s realised or it realises its full potential, Africa will start talking now big in air cargo.”

Rubadiri also sits down with Allan Kilavuka, the Group Managing Director and CEO of Kenya Airways. Kilavuka talks about their growth plans for the next five years, “We want to fly to more destinations, particularly in Africa because our mantra is to fly people to Africa and fly Africans to the world. So, we want to increase it by at least 30% for the next five years and then double our fleet in the next 10 years.”

Kilavuka says that connectivity is a big problem for the industry, but praises Kenya for the steps it has taken to improve visa entry, “As Africans, we should make accessibility to our countries much, much better. Kenya has made a good step in doing the eTA. Rwanda has followed step, or rather Rwanda started, Kenya has done it. I believe Ethiopia has a lot of people having access to that market. So, more and more countries should do the same and they should stop looking at access into the markets as a revenue raising activity, and see it as a way into allowing more business and more travellers into their countries. And Africans would like to travel more.”