SAATM – Transforming Lives and Economies…

A What is the SAATM?

The Single African Air Transport Market (“SAATM”) will ensure aviation plays a major role in connecting Africa to help support its social, economic and political integration and boost intra-Africa trade and tourism. It is one of the twelve flagship projects of the African Union Agenda 2063. The Single African Air Transport Market as established and launched during the 30th Ordinary Summit of the African Union Assembly of Heads of States and Government held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 28th to 29th of January, 2018.

The Single Market started off from the Yamoussoukro Declaration1 (adopted in 1988) and the Yamoussoukro Decision2 (adopted in 1999).  Both of them address the will of African Heads of State and Governments to liberalize aviation within Africa. The evolution from the Yamoussoukro Decision3 to the Single Africa Air Transport Market is due in large part to the strong leadership of the African Union and the support of the African Civil Aviation Commission.

If African nations and airlines don’t fully embrace the Single African Air Transport Market for the benefit of Africa, then the continent, its people and its airlines are unlikely to reach their full potential.

B. Why is the SAATM so important?

Africa is home to over 1.2 billion people with a huge geographical spread that is largely land-locked. Given the lack of robust alternative infrastructure across the continent (road, rail, water), aviation is the most effective way to get around the continent. Unfortunately, Africa is not well connected in terms of air services. In many cases, the only way to get to countries within Africa is to travel for days or through other continents. This lack of connectivity is making Africa lose out immensely on socio-economic benefits and growth opportunities.

The African aviation market is perhaps one that has the most potential for growth out of the global regions, due to it being a comparatively young industry and servicing a large and rapidly developing population.  Aviation is a vital tool for development globally and has the potential to greatly transform and improve the economic and social benefits across Africa. In Africa, air transport supports 6.8 million jobs & $72.5 billion of GDP. Improved intra-Africa connectivity facilitates business and trade, enables tourism, connects friends, families and cultures, and promotes the exchange of knowledge and ideas. Aviation is the foundation of many established and emerging economies e.g. UAE, Singapore, Ethiopia, South Africa, Rwanda, Ghana, Cote D’Ivoire. The SAATM is therefore a clear path for a more prosperous and secure African future.

Africa is home to over 16.75% of the world’s people but accounts for between 2 – 4% of the global air service market.

C. Making the Single African Market a reality – what next?

So far, twenty-seven (27) countries are currently subscribed to the SAATM solemn commitment namely: Benin, Burkina Faso, Botswana, Capo Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea Conakry, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Togo and Zimbabwe. These countries represent over 80% of the existing aviation market in Africa.

Below are some of the next steps to making the SAATM a reality:

  1. Ensuring more States join the SAATM;
  2. Ensuring all Member States in the SAATM have:
  • YD compliant BASAs; or
  • Removal of any restrictive provisions from existing BASAs in order to fully comply with YD.
  1. Harmonization of the national and regional Regulations at the continental level. Ensuring all States in the Market meet the minimum ICAO Safety and Security Standards;
  2. Ensuring a Continental Aviation Infrastructure Master Plan is in place including an architecture for the Single African Sky by 2023;
  3. Implementation of the Aviation Infrastructure Master plan via the PIDA-PAP 2 platform; and
  4. Ensure sufficient resource mobilization particularly to the Executing agency of the YD (AFCAC).

D. What does SAATM mean in practice?

The SAATM will eliminate the need for separate bilateral air service agreements (BASAs) between individual countries. It promotes multilateralism for air transport in Africa, as envisaged under the YD, with a view to making the entire African aviation market a single market.

Under SAATM, any current or future air service agreement signed between any or all of the twenty-seven member States, must be YD compliant and must meet the below requirements:

  • Free exercise of 1st, 2nd,  3rd,  4th and 5th freedom traffic to Eligible Airlines;
  • Liberalized air tariffs;
  • Unrestricted frequency and capacity;
  • Full liberalization of cargo services;
  • Recognition of the powers and function of the Executing Agency – African Civil Aviation Commission.
  • Adhere to the uniform rules for fair competition, consumer protection and other regulations;

Supporting the free exercise of the first, second, third, fourth and fifth Freedoms of the Air, under which an eligible airline or air carrier from one African State can fly into another African State’s airspace and land on its territory using only a prior notification procedure.

E. How will the SAATM be regulated?

The Institutional and Regulatory Texts of the Yamoussoukro Decision are essential for the single market to function effectively. At the 30th Ordinary Summit of the African Union Assembly of Heads of States and Government, which took place on 28 January 2018 in Addis Ababa – Ethiopia, the following Regulations were adopted:
Competition rules;

  1. Consumer protection regulations; and
  2. Powers and Functions of the Executing Agency of the YD.

The following Regulations are at various stages of validation and approval:

  1. Dispute settlement procedures;
  2. Guidelines for the negotiation of BASAs with third countries;
  3. Harmonized regulations for the approval of eligible air carriers and the access of African air carriers to intraAfrican routes
    under the Single Air Transport Market;
  4. Other operational regulations for the smooth operation of the Market (Enforcement rules);
  5. Reducing the cost of doing business in Africa (Taxes, User charges and Fees through ensuring Compliance with the Policies of ICAO on User Charges and taxation) – States’ compliance to ICAO policies is essential.

Memorandum of Implementation: – SAATM member States met during the 4th Ministerial Working Group Meeting in Lomé, Togo (May 25 – 28) to address a key measure for the SAATM to operate effectively i.e. the harmonization of all Bilateral Air Services Agreements (BASAs) to ensure
the removal of any restrictions that run counter to the Yamoussoukro Decision. The Ministers present committed to the operationalization of the SAATM via the signing of harmonized Bilateral Air Services Agreements (BASAs) and the adoption of a Memorandum of Implementation (MoI) that ensures the removal of any air service agreement restrictions that are not in compliance with the Yamoussoukro Decision.

Fourteen Member States of the SAATM signed the MoI, including: Benin, Capo Verde, Central African Republic, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Togo.

Africa needs to move from the current situation of low choice, high fares and step into a new age of affordable and accessible air transport.

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