LEADERSHIP
Learning curve ACI Africa’s secretary general, Ali Tounsi, reflects on the huge challenges posed by COVID-19 but looks forward to the future with optimism.
T
he impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the aviation industry in Africa has been, and will continue to be, unprecedented in magnitude and scope. Indeed, we expect that the impact of the pandemic will be felt across the region for years to come, destabilising economies and affecting livelihoods. As the ‘Evolution of Pandemic in Africa’ graphic on page 39 clearly shows, to date, Africa has witnessed three waves of the pandemic in the last 18 months. The crisis has challenged the core foundation of the aviation industry and tested the sheer resilience of the different stakeholders composing it. It has proved particularly tough for the continent’s airlines, for example, with the carriers currently fighting for survival including South African Airways and Air Mauritius, which recently emerged from bankruptcy and voluntary administration respectively, and Air Seychelles, which entered administration in early October. Effectively no aviation related business has survived unscathed from the massive downturn in traffic experienced by Africa’s airports since the start of the pandemic, which led to an estimated $2.7 billion shortfall in revenues in 2020 compared to the pre-COVID forecast. And this year is not expected to be much better with expected losses of around $2.5 billion on our pre-pandemic projections. Like elsewhere in the world, Africa’s recovery from COVID will very much be linked to a successful vaccination programme. Unfortunately, Africa continues to lag behind the rest of the world when it comes to vaccinating its population. To put this in context, the stated goal of the World Health Organization (WHO) was to vaccinate at least 10% of the population of every country by September 2021, at least 40% by the end of the year, and 70% globally by the middle of next year. However, as of November 8, 2021, Africa accounted for just 2.8% of the 7.2 billion doses administered worldwide meaning that only 6.2% of the continent’s population had been fully vaccinated.
Other major challenges Nobody is in any doubt that successfully navigating our way through the pandemic is the biggest challenge currently facing Africa’s airports, but it is, of course, far from the only one. And there are no easy answers to many of them as they are systemic in nature and generally outside the control of airports.
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AIRPORT WORLD/ISSUE 6, 2021
One of the biggest challenges facing our airports is the fact that despite moves to liberalise air transport and have more Open Skies agreements in place across the continent, air access remains an issue. In fact, the lack of consistency in air access policies and national carrier protectionism practiced by many African States have resulted in persistent poor connectivity across the continent. Another major challenge to growth are the high taxes levied by governments on aviation as they represent a huge burden and have increased the cost of travel in an arbitrary manner. Continuing in this way will pose a risk to the development of a sustainable air transport industry in Africa. The financial stability of our airports also remains a constant challenge. Inadequate traffic levels ensures that there are many loss-making airport businesses, which ultimately results in the inability to invest in much required infrastructure and equipment. This can compromise safety and security, the basic pillars of aviation. The pandemic has simply exacerbated the situation. We need a change of mindset from the very top in Africa to offer hope that the aviation industry can thrive again once these most testing of times are over. If governments and all industry stakeholders work together better, we can reach new heights of economic prosperity and sustainability post-pandemic. Above all, there is need for a genuine political will to bring a paradigm shift that will allow for the liberalisation of the air transport sector, the opening of the skies and the reduction of the air travel costs in Africa.
African solutions Africa needs African solutions which must respect its diversity, its specificities and its culture. Initiatives must be based on equity and the sharing of risks and benefits for all.
