Africa’s open skies agenda has reached a decisive implementation point. The policy framework is in place, the political commitments have been made, and the institutions responsible for driving the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) are now under pressure to turn commitments into practical connectivity gains.
That implementation focus framed the opening of the first African Air Transport Convention and Exhibition in Lomé, Togo, this week. Convened by the African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC), the African Union’s specialised agency for civil aviation matters on the continent and the Executing Agency of the Yamoussoukro Decision and SAATM, the event is being held under the theme “One African Sky – Connectivity and Sustainable Air Transport Development”.
The question now facing the continent is where SAATM stands in operational terms. According to the latest position presented by AFCAC, 38 African Union Member States have signed the SAATM commitment. Of these, 12 signatories have completed regulatory alignment and operational open access. A further 16 signatories have reached partial implementation, meaning progress has been made, but some criteria remain incomplete and restrictions remain in place. Another 10 signatories remain at the signature stage only, with no demonstrable operational change.
The progress is measurable, but uneven. According to AFCAC’s recent milestones report, 124 new intra-African routes have been launched, including 22 Fifth Freedom routes. Fifth Freedom traffic capacity has increased from 14.5% in 2018 to 23% in 2025 and is on track to reach 30% by 2028.
The African Union has declared 2027 the year of “Leveraging the Full Potential of the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) and New Technologies for Continental Integration”. The theme aligns with the 25th anniversary of Africa’s air transport liberalisation agenda and places SAATM firmly within the wider continental integration programme.
There is a long policy history behind Africa’s aviation liberalisation agenda. The Yamoussoukro Decision dates back to 1999, while SAATM was launched in 2018. President Paul Kagame chaired the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union in 2018, a period during which a number of reforms were initiated, and important areas of work were opened. The Single African Air Transport Market and the African Continental Free Trade Area are among the outcomes from that period.
Yet the central message from Lomé was that Africa no longer needs another policy declaration. The principles have already been agreed. What remains is the political will to apply them fully, open traffic rights in practice and remove the restrictions that continue to limit African air connectivity.
The challenges remain significant. Fifth Freedom rights are still applied inconsistently, blocked funds continue to affect airline operations, visa restrictions remain a barrier to movement, and airport taxes and levies vary across jurisdictions. These issues have been discussed repeatedly across the sector, but implementation has not moved at the pace required to support the continent’s integration ambitions.
For AFCAC, the Lomé Convention is intended to act as a catalyst by bringing States and stakeholders together around implementation. It also reflects Togo’s own positioning as a regional commercial and logistics platform, supported by recent policy moves intended to strengthen mobility, trade and connectivity.
Togo’s Minister framed aviation as a development priority that should sit at the centre of national economic planning, rather than being treated as a technical portfolio reserved for sector specialists. That approach, he said, requires political backing at the highest level and clear inclusion in national development strategies.
The point is particularly relevant following Togo’s recent move to abolish visas for African citizens, a policy step that forms part of a wider effort to support movement across the continent. For Togo, opening borders and opening skies sit within the same integration agenda.
African integration must happen through the skies as much as through road corridors. Intra-African connectivity remains weak, and passengers too often still need to travel via Europe or the Gulf to connect between two African capitals. That reality is incompatible with the continent’s economic ambitions.
Africa cannot build a single market of 1.3 billion people while its skies remain closed. Open skies are not simply an aviation-sector preference, but a condition for the success of the African Continental Free Trade Area.main a policy statement. It needs to be supported by bankable projects and the financing required to implement them.
The timeline is tight. According to the Commissioner, the project pipeline and associated financing work need to be advanced within six months, ahead of reporting back to African Heads of State in February 2027. The message from the opening session was that political support has been given, and that responsibility now sits with the aviation sector and its partners to deliver.
Skills development was also identified as a core part of the continent’s aviation transformation agenda. Mataboge said Africa cannot continue to rely on imported expertise and needs a long-term aviation skills plan capable of supporting sector growth, technology adoption and operational resilience.
The discussion also pointed to the need for a shift in how aviation is understood. Air transport cannot be treated only as a mode of travel for a limited segment of the market. It needs to be positioned as a catalyst for trade, tourism, investment and broader economic development.
Togo’s own positioning added weight to that message. The country has presented aviation as a development priority that should sit at the centre of national economic planning, rather than being treated as a technical portfolio reserved for sector specialists. That approach requires political backing at the highest level and clear inclusion in national development strategies.
This is particularly relevant following Togo’s recent move to abolish visas for African citizens, a policy step linked to wider efforts to support mobility, trade and connectivity across the continent. For Togo, opening borders and opening skies form part of the same integration agenda.
The case for action is direct. African integration must happen through the skies as much as through road corridors. Intra-African connectivity remains weak, and passengers too often still need to travel via Europe or the Gulf to connect between two African capitals. That reality is incompatible with the continent’s economic ambitions.
Africa cannot build a single market of 1.3 billion people while its skies remain closed. Open skies are not just an aviation-sector preference, but a condition for the success of the African Continental Free Trade Area.
Togo has positioned itself as a champion of the SAATM agenda. The country is committed to leading by example and called on Member States to make air transport a pillar of their own economic transformation strategies.
H.E. Lerato Mataboge, African Union Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy, reinforced the implementation focus, stressing that the 2027 aviation agenda cannot be delivered by the Commission alone. The next phase will require what she described as an “all-hands-on-deck” approach, bringing together airlines, regulators, financiers, academic institutions and other stakeholders.
Central to that process is the development of a compendium of investable aviation projects. These could include airline hubs, air navigation systems and aviation technologies. Mataboge emphasised that SAATM cannot remain a policy statement. It needs to be supported by bankable projects and the financing required to implement them.
The timeline is tight, the project pipeline and associated financing work need to be advanced within six months, ahead of the next report back set for February 2027. The urgency was reinforced during the various panel discussions on the first day. With the point made that political support has been given and that responsibility now sits with the aviation sector and its partners to deliver.
Skills development was also identified as a core part of the continent’s aviation transformation agenda. Africa cannot continue to rely on imported expertise and needs a long-term aviation skills plan capable of supporting sector growth, technology adoption and operational resilience.
Beyond infrastructure and skills, the sessions pointed to the need for a shift in how aviation is understood. Air transport needs to be positioned as a catalyst for trade, tourism and broader economic development.
This is central to the relationship between SAATM and the AfCFTA. The AfCFTA creates the market, but SAATM is part of what connects it. Without stronger air connectivity, the promise of continental trade integration will remain constrained by the practical difficulty of moving people, goods, services and investment across African markets.
AFCAC Secretary General Adefunke Adeyemi highlighted the relationship directly, stating that “AFCFTA creates the market, but SATAM connects it.” She added: “The opportunity is immense, the political will is ripe, and this is the time for us.” Adeyemi also placed aviation within a wider transport and infrastructure context, noting that connectivity is the umbrella, intermodality is essential. The infrastructure is the supporting backbone, and of course, so is working in collaboration with the actors who are going to deliver on this.
One of the clearest messages from the discussions on day one is that aviation liberalisation cannot be delivered by aviation stakeholders alone. Trade institutions, financiers, regulators, airlines, airports, governments and development partners all form part of the same implementation chain.
Adeyemi underlined the point, saying: “Typically, aviation talks to itself, trade people talk to themselves, and finance people talk to themselves. For this event, it is the first time we have collaboratively organised a platform where we can not only talk to each other, but also work together and deliver together.”
The opening of the African Air Transport Convention and Exhibition marks more than another sector gathering. It reflects a broader attempt to connect aviation policy with trade, finance, infrastructure, skills, technology and the movement of people.
For African aviation, the next phase of SAATM will not be judged by the number of States that have signed commitments, but by how many remove restrictions, open routes, apply traffic rights, prepare bankable projects and create conditions in which airlines can connect the continent more effectively.
The promise of one African sky now depends on execution by all African countries.
