AVIATION NEWS
@VoyagesAfriq
Ethiopian Airlines wins ‘African Champion of the Year’ Award Ethiopian Airlines, the largest Aviation Group in Africa and SKYTRAX certified Four Star Global Airline have been awarded the prestigious African Champion of the Year Award at this year’s Africa CEO Forum in Kigali, Rwanda. The Africa CEO Forum is the leading international conference dedicated to the private sector in Africa and hosts the continent’s top CEOs, international investors, experts and high-level policy makers every year. Every year, the Africa CEO Forum Awards recognises the companies and investors who have shaped the year in Africa at Gala dinner in chosen destination. While receiving the awards, Group Chief Executive Officer of Ethiopian Airlines, Mr. Tewolde GebreMariam said, “We are honoured to be awarded the African champion prize. Thank you very much for the strong vote of confidence that Africa has given us even at the most challenging time in our history. We are still mourning the loss of the lives of our esteemed passengers and colleagues at the tragic accident on ET 302 on 10 March 2019. My sincere sympathies and heartfelt condolences go to the families of
the victims, their countries and the continent of Africa.” “But we are very grateful to the traveling public which has stood with us in such difficult time. The vote of confidence is unbelievable. We have never seen such kind of large number of vote of confidence for one of the strongest brands in Africa. Thank you all for all the support you have given us and continue to give us. Together, we will make Africa great and we will put our continent in its right place on the global stage.”
Mr. Tewolde GebreMariam CEO of Ethiopian Airlines
Ethiopian is a multi-award winning airline. On November 8, 2017, SKYTRAX, the most prestigious international air transport standards and quality rating organization, certified Ethiopian as Four Star Airline. SKYTRAX has also awarded Ethiopian the SKYTRAX World Airline Award for Best Airline Staff in Africa on two occasions, and earlier in 2017 Ethiopian received the SKYTRAX World Airline Award for Best Airline in Africa.
AFDB does not fund acquisition of planes The African Development Bank (AfDB) has clarified its role in the financing and support of the African aviation industry. The bank is engaged in several projects on the continent of which tourism and aviation is widely featured in its budgets and spending. Speaking on the topic “Funding and Financing for Development: pragmatic measures to build a transparent, stable and predictable investment climate” in Santa Maria, Cabo Verde, the Chief Aviation Officer of AfDB, Romain Ekoto said the Bank does not fund the purchase of long haul aircrafts by airlines but may finance
44
VOYAGESAFRIQ
the acquisition of single aisle aircraft, technical assistance and also support airlines to leverage private sector financing using diverse instruments. He added that, the Bank’s framework would not allow the utilization of its public window funds to finance aircraft acquisition. He was speaking as a panel member on the experts’ discussion at a Ministerial Conference on Air Transport and Tourism in Africa. He said, the bank has been instrumental in the finance and development of Africa’s aviation sector through infrastructure development, aircraft acquisition and institutional support projects and will continue to support for sustainable growth.
Romain Ekoto Chief Aviation Officer - AfDB
On his observation of the conference, Romain said he was impressed to see Aviation and Tourism sectors joining forces and hoped the deliberations and declarations will be followed vigorously and ensure the continent is not deprived of its development.
