Fadugba Urges African Countries to Remove Barriers to Air Transport Growth

Chinedu Eze

The CEO of African Aviation Services, industry consultant and organsier of MRO Africa, Nick Fadugba, has called on African states to remove all barriers to air transport on the continent to enhance interconnectivity because as catalyst to economic growth aviation would enhance trade, create more jobs and boost the GDP of countries that fully embraced the benefits of air travel.

Through protectionism, some African countries have used high charges, hostility and bureaucratic delays to discourage open competition among African carriers despite being signatories to Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) and African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Fadugba made the call in his opening remarks at this year’s Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) Africa 2024 conference held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from April 23-25 and organised by African services.

He said that Africa needs a safe, reliable, efficient, affordable and profitable air transport industry that facilitates travel, trade and tourism across the continent, and between Africa and the world, adding that much has been achieved, but many challenges still remain.

Fadugba emphasised that certain areas in the industry, including aviation safety, security, training, regulatory oversight, infrastructure, liberalisation, modernisation and funding need to be improved significantly, despite what has already been achieved in the sector.

“During the African Airline Technical Directors Meeting and AATO Council Meeting held yesterday (Tuesday last week) ahead of the main conference, additional stumbling blocks were discussed, such as the need for more co-operation between African airlines, the supply chain logjam, the lack of sufficient trained aviation personnel, the need for fairer pricing by international suppliers and the need for increased communication between industry stakeholders.

“If properly harnessed, a big if, aviation could become one of the keys to Africa’s future prosperity. To succeed we need, inter alia, a clear vision, good leadership, discipline, hard work, patriotism, good governance and a genuine spirit of co-operation in Africa,” he said.

Fadugba who said that theme of this year’s conference was ‘Strengthening Africa’s MRO and Training Capacity for the Future’; thanked Ethiopian Airlines, Africa’s largest and most successful airline group, for hosting this event.

The conference attracted participants from all over the world and sponsored by many aviation organizations, including aircraft manufacturers, airlines, suppliers, service providers and others.

“I thank all our Lead Sponsors: AMP-Aero, The Boeing Company; Platinum Sponsors: Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance and Lufthansa Technik; Gold Sponsor: AMECO, GE Aerospace and Silver Sponsors: Golden Engine Maintenance, Rolls-Royce, Aero Supplies Global, Aviatt, and all exhibitors for their valued support. To succeed we need, inter alia, a clear vision, good leadership, discipline, hard work, patriotism, good governance and a genuine spirit of co-operation in Africa,” Fadugba said.