supported elsewhere in Africa for every $1 of gross value added directly created by the air transport sector. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released new data indicating that the impact of COVID-19 on Africa’s aviation industry and economies has worsened sharply since the previous assessment. It is believed that: • Job losses in aviation and related industries could increase by up to 3.5 million. That is more than half of the region’s 6.2 million aviation-related employment and 400,000 more than the previous estimate. • GDP supported by aviation in the region could fall by up to $35 billion. IATA previously estimated a $28 billion decline9. However there is a silver lining for the industry, in Africa. The fast-growing African space industry is expected to hit $10 billion by 2024 with a current value of more than $7 billion10. Not only the African Aerospace industry is growing in the space sector but also in the aviation/air transport contributing to more than $55.8 billion in the African economy11. According to Airbus’s White Paper report, the top most countries in the African Aerospace industry are South Africa with $1.8 billion, Morocco with $1.1 billion, and Tunisia with $430 million in industry sizes. In the global aerospace industry ranking, South Africa and Morocco rank in the top 4012. 8.1.3 Aerospace and Defence Industry: South African context A case for South African MRO: In 2016, South Africa ranked 76, after Greece, for global U.S. aircraft parts exports. However, the growth of commercial and general aviation in southern Africa has slowed down significantly; high operating costs and a sluggish economy are taking their toll on discount airliners and general aviation. The launch of the African Union’s Single African Transport Air Market, which comprises 28 countries including South Africa, in 2018, provided airlines an opportunity to increase their operations on the continent. The biggest growth is expected in other Sub-Saharan African states as they ramp-up up their capacity to meet long-term growth in passenger travel and air freight. There has been a downturn in airborne off-shore utility and mineral deposit surveying done
https://www.iata.org/en/pressroom/pr/2020-08-13-03/ Press Release, Space In Africa, 2019. https://africanews.space/african-space-industry-now-generatingover usd-7-billion-annually-to-exceed-usd-10-billion-by-2024/ 11 Air transport contributes 6.2m jobs, $55.8bn to Africa GDP – ICAO, The Aviation & Allied Business Journal, 2019. https://aviationbusinessjournal.aero/2019/11/13/air-transport-contributes-6-2m-jobs55-8bn-to-africa-dp-icao/ 12 Air Bus’s White Paper, The Great Enabler: Aerospace in Africa, 2018. https://www.airbus.com/content/ dam/corporatetopics/publications/brochures/TheGreatEnable_AerospaceinAfrica.pdf 9
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