{"id":109269,"date":"2025-09-06T16:35:32","date_gmt":"2025-09-06T16:35:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/african-ministers-call-for-single-air-transport-market"},"modified":"2025-09-06T17:01:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-06T17:01:09","slug":"african-ministers-call-for-single-air-transport-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/african-ministers-call-for-single-air-transport-market","title":{"rendered":"African Ministers Call for Single Air Transport Market"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>As the 2025 Aviation Africa Summit & Exhibition concluded in Kigali on Friday, a high-level Ministerial Round Table warned that Africa\u2019s aviation sector will not take off unless African skies are opened, hence calling for action to drive up the industry.<\/p>\n

During a discussion themed \u201cHow countries can respond to make Africa\u2019s aviation ambitions a reality,\u201d the ministers indicated that continued protectionism, fragmented airspace, and lack of implementation of the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) are among the biggest barriers to the continent’s aviation and economic growth.<\/p>\n

SAATM is an initiative that aims to liberalise the African aviation industry, transforming it into a single market. However, it lacks the required endorsement for it to be operational across the continent, as some countries have not yet signed it.<\/p>\n

According to the African Airlines Association (AFRAA), the initiative has got 38 signatories \u2014 out of 55 countries making up the continent.<\/p>\n

Open skies as the \u2018low-hanging fruit\u2019 being ignored<\/p>\n

Rwanda\u2019s Minister of Infrastructure, Jimmy Gasore said the first and most obvious step to advancing Africa\u2019s aviation industry is for the countries on the continent to open their skies to each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first thing, which I believe is actually the low-hanging fruit for us Africans, is to open our skies,” he said, referring to the need for implementing SAATM which has proven to offer benefits.<\/p>\n

Some participants at the Aviation Africa Summit session, on September 5, 2025, in Kigali (courtesy)<\/p>\n

Gasore warned that Africa is losing significant growth opportunities due to unfavourable regulatory and policy frameworks.<\/p>\n

Theresia Mbaika, Kenya\u2019s Principal Secretary in the State Department for Aviation and Aerospace Development, said Africa\u2019s aviation potential is being squandered due to slow policy alignment and persistent protectionism.<\/p>\n

While the continent has set bold ambitions through SAATM, the African Continent Free Trade Area and the Agenda 2063 to transform the aviation into a driver for integration and global competitiveness, Mbaika said there was a lack of action to operationalise them for aviation progress.<\/p>\n

\u201cSAATM has come out as a very key enabler of connecting Africa, increasing on trade and copying from each other and doing the right thing. But then I think there’s a gap between the talk and the implementation part of it. So, we must move from the talking; the boardroom meetings and do the thing that we really need to do,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Addressing visa and tax barriers<\/p>\n

Gasore also highlighted that aviation cannot thrive without supportive reforms in visa policy and aviation taxation.<\/p>\n

He said that countries can\u2019t talk about connectivity if they keep their borders closed. Instead, he stated that countries should emulate Rwanda\u2019s effective policy to exempt visa requirements for all African nationals, which he said has boosted tourism and regional cooperation.<\/p>\n

Regarding taxation, he criticised the use of taxes, navigation fees and landing charges as tools of protectionism.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome countries use taxes to weaken competitors instead of building stronger airlines. We must harmonise these costs across the continent if we want to compete globally,\u201d he said, urging for a pan-African framework to manage fees and avoid price distortions.<\/p>\n

He held that travelling by air should not be a luxury, but an affordable means of transport for citizens.<\/p>\n

However, he said that until African countries open their skies, streamline their policies, and invest together, Africa will continue to fly below its potential.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Rwanda<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. As the 2025 Aviation Africa Summit & Exhibition concluded in Kigali on Friday, a high-level Ministerial Round Table warned that Africa\u2019s aviation sector will not take off unless African skies are opened, hence calling for action to drive up the industry. During a discussion themed \u201cHow countries can respond to make Africa\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":109268,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,29,14],"tags":[7963,770,7922,7964,3690,7962,758,7961],"class_list":["post-109269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","tag-2025-aviation-africa-summit","tag-africa","tag-air-travel","tag-airspace-liberalisation","tag-aviation","tag-opening-the-skies","tag-rwanda","tag-single-african-air-transport-market-saatm"],"yoast_head":"\nAfrican Ministers Call for Single Air Transport Market - Rwanda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As the 2025 Aviation Africa Summit & Exhibition concluded in Kigali on Friday, a high-level Ministerial Round Table ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/african-ministers-call-for-single-air-transport-market\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"African Ministers Call for Single Air Transport Market\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As the 2025 Aviation Africa Summit & Exhibition concluded in Kigali on Friday, a high-level Ministerial Round Table ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/african-ministers-call-for-single-air-transport-market\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rwanda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-06T16:35:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-06T17:01:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2025\/09\/sm_1757165124.982564.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"666\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/african-ministers-call-for-single-air-transport-market#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/african-ministers-call-for-single-air-transport-market\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"African Ministers Call for Single Air Transport Market\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-06T16:35:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-06T17:01:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/african-ministers-call-for-single-air-transport-market\"},\"wordCount\":577,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/african-ministers-call-for-single-air-transport-market#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2025\/09\/sm_1757165124.982564.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"2025 Aviation Africa Summit\",\"Africa\",\"Air travel\",\"Airspace liberalisation\",\"Aviation\",\"Opening the skies\",\"Rwanda\",\"Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM)\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/african-ministers-call-for-single-air-transport-market#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/african-ministers-call-for-single-air-transport-market\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/african-ministers-call-for-single-air-transport-market\",\"name\":\"African Ministers Call for Single Air Transport Market - 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