Africa’s ambition to create a single liberalised aviation market is gaining momentum, but aviation experts say protectionism, fragmented regulatory frameworks and uneven implementation continue to undermine the pace of reform despite notable progress under the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM).
The challenges and opportunities facing the continent’s aviation sector came under the spotlight during a panel discussion at the recent AFRAA 14th Aviation Stakeholders Convention, held under the theme Connecting Africa: Market Access, Growth and Environmental Sustainability.
While speakers agreed that Africa remains the world’s fastest-growing aviation market, they argued that stronger political commitment, regulatory convergence and investment in infrastructure and skills will determine whether the continent can fully unlock aviation-led economic growth.
Prof. Dr Eyden Samunderu, Project Contracted Expert – EASA/NTU, described SAATM as the continent’s primary vehicle for advancing open skies but said implementation has entered only a partial phase despite broad political support.
Although 38 African states have signed onto SAATM, implementation remains uneven because market access differs significantly across countries. While several signatories have successfully liberalised their aviation markets, others continue to maintain restrictive policies that limit competition and connectivity.
According to Samunderu, one of the structural challenges is Africa’s overlapping regional economic communities, which complicate implementation across jurisdictions. At the same time, competition varies considerably between mature aviation markets and countries still seeking greater participation in global aviation.
The cost of air travel also emerged as a major concern. Samunderu noted that aviation taxes, charges and fees account for almost half the cost of some airline tickets, arguing that the continent’s fragmented charging regime creates unnecessary barriers to market access.
He said multiple layers of aviation-related charges exist across African states, with some fees bearing no direct relationship to improving air transport and, in some cases, conflicting with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards. Rather than imposing uniform charges across vastly different markets, he advocated a convergence approach that groups countries according to high, medium and low-cost charging structures before establishing a common methodology.
The discussion highlighted protectionism as another significant obstacle to liberalisation.
Chief Commercial Officer of South African Airways, Tebogo Tsimane, argued that Southern Africa remains one of the least liberalised aviation regions and suggested that smaller, practical agreements between neighbouring countries could accelerate implementation while broader continental reforms continue.
He also questioned the role of governments in driving up operating costs, arguing that states impose taxes unrelated to aviation infrastructure or industry development. He cited Tanzania’s security charges as an example of levies that increase airline costs without directly supporting the sector.
Navigation Services Company (ATNS). Photo credit © African Pilot // Craig Dean
Chief Operating Officer of the Air Traffic and Navigation Services Company (ATNS), Josia Manyakoana, acknowledged that although 38 countries have signed SAATM and 26 are actively participating in implementation, Africa’s progress should be viewed within its own context rather than compared directly with Europe.
He noted that Europe required more than two decades to advance its Single European Sky initiative, while Africa faces more diverse and complex conditions. Despite these challenges, the continent has already added nearly 110 new intra-African routes, demonstrating measurable progress toward improved connectivity.
Manyakoana argued that African governments have already endorsed SAATM under the African Union’s Agenda 2063, but implementation ultimately depends on sustained political commitment at national level.
He cautioned that while SAATM establishes the framework for liberalisation, there is currently no effective legal mechanism to enforce compliance among member states. Similar enforcement challenges, he noted, also affected the earlier Yamoussoukro Declaration.
According to Manyakoana, protectionist policies often arise from governments seeking to safeguard their national airlines, making political concerns one of the biggest constraints to full market liberalisation.
Beyond policy reform, the discussion identified infrastructure and human capital as equally important foundations for aviation growth.
Manyakoana said air navigation service providers continue to face operational challenges and stressed that technical skills, including air traffic controllers, engineers and aviation management professionals, must be developed on a much larger scale to support future expansion.
He further argued that governments should share infrastructure investment risks with private investors instead of transferring all infrastructure costs to airlines, warning that doing so threatens airline sustainability.
Samunderu similarly questioned how future infrastructure expansion would be financed, noting that governments currently shoulder most investment costs and calling for greater private-sector participation.
Despite these obstacles, Samunderu said Africa still has the potential to achieve the projected aviation growth of around six percent, although institutional, policy and market challenges remain. He suggested that Pan-African airline alliances and greater collaboration between carriers could help achieve that objective by encouraging cooperation rather than competition.
Panellists agreed that countries will not liberalise at the same pace because of differing levels of development. Instead, they advocated gradual convergence supported by targeted assistance, practical regional cooperation and continued investment in infrastructure, institutional capacity and technical skills.
