On Monday, 23 African countries signed on to create the
Single African Air Transport Market, which will ease restrictions for carriers to
operate flights among those countries and enable them to lower fares for air
travel among them.
The agreement was framed by the Yamoussoukro
Decision, an agreement made nearly two decades ago to liberalize air access
across Africa, which has been beholden largely to a collection of bilateral
agreements. International Air Transport Association VP for Africa Raphael
Kuuchi said the agreement "has the potential for remarkable transformation"
for Africa's aviation industry by boosting demand, increasing competition and
making air travel more accessible.
"Today's decision is momentous," Kuuchi said. "Now,
it's time to get down to the work of implementation. Greater connectivity will
lead to greater prosperity."
Participating countries include:
- Benin
- Botswana
- Burkina Faso
- Cape Verde
- Cote d'Ivoire
- Egypt
- Ethiopia
- Gabon
- Ghana
- Guinea
- Kenya
- Liberia
- Mali
- Mozambique
- Niger
- Nigeria
- The Republic of the Congo
- Rwanda
- Sierra Leone
- South Africa
- Swaziland
- Togo
- Zimbabwe