FG reviews air agreement with 27 African countries – TheNigerialawyer

In line with the provisions of the Single African Air Transport
Market of the African Union, Nigeria has reviewed air transport
agreement with 27 countries, MAUREEN IHUA-MADUENYI writes

A total of 28 African countries have signed, with solemn
commitment, the Single African Air Transport Market of the African
Union, necessitating a review of air transport agreement between
them and the Federal Government.

As of July 31, 28 out of the 55 countries that make up the AU
had signed the treaty, which requires state parties to liberalise
scheduled and non-scheduled intra-Africa air transport services in
line with the provisions of the Yamoussoukro Decision.

The 28 states are Benin, Burkina Faso, Botswana, Capo Verde,
Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt and
Ethiopia.

Other are Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea Conakry, Kenya, Liberia,
Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South
Africa, Swaziland, Togo, Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Cameroon.

These countries, according to the International Air Transport
Association, represent over 80 per cent of the existing aviation
market in Africa.

With the new agreement, many more carriers within the continent
are expected to begin flight services into Nigeria.

The Director of Air Transport Regulation of the Nigerian Civil
Aviation Authority, Group Capt. Edem Oyo-Ita (retd), said the
country had so much to benefit from SAATM than any other country on
the continent.

According to him, the liberalisation of air transport is an
opportunity for domestic airlines as well as the industry to
grow.

“Bilateral Air Services Agreement has been streamlined in line
with the SAATM. We should expect more countries to fly into Nigeria
as well as Nigerian airlines flying into their countries,” he
said.

The SAATM is a flagship project of the African Union Agenda
2063, an initiative to create a single unified and liberalised air
transport market on the continent.

It was adopted by the AU Assembly in 2015 as a way of
implementing the Yamoussoukro Decision of 1999 that provides for
full liberalisation in terms of market access among African states;
the free exercise of traffic rights; the elimination of
restrictions on ownership and the full liberalisation of
frequencies, fares and capacities.

Inaugurated in January 2018, Nigeria was among the champion
states that declared their solemn commitment to establish SAATM
upon the adoption of the declaration by the Assembly of Heads of
State and Government of the AU.

Countries which have signed SAATM are technically required to
lift all restrictions and non-tariff barriers from bilateral air
services agreements and other regulatory bodies.

Among many other provisions, SAATM prohibits limitations on the
number of frequencies and capacity offered on air services linking
any city pair combination between state parties concerned while
each designated airline is allowed to mount and operate capacity
and frequency as it deems appropriate.

It also mandates that no member state should unilaterally limit
the volume of traffic, the type of aircraft to be operated or the
number of flights per week except for environmental, safety,
technical or other special consideration.

A former Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika,
recently said that the full implementation and operationalisation
of SAATM would help Nigeria and other African countries to leap
forward to become effective global competitors in aviation.

An analyst and Managing Partner, Aglow Aviation Support Services
Limited, Mr Tayo Ojuri said the failure to implement SAATM open
skies remained a major factor in the continent’s aviation sector
continuing to underperform on the global stage.

“SAATM’s backers like IATA contend that by enabling carriers to
fly direct between two regional cities without flying via their
home hub will drive growth for the continent while boosting
economic integration and intraregional connectivity,” he said.

He added that IATA research on African air liberalisation had
shown that if just 12 key African countries opened their markets
and increased connectivity, it could create extra 155,000 jobs and
generate an additional $1.3bn in annual Gross Domestic Product in
those countries.

Ojuri stated that apart from airlines, the open skies policy
would also provide opportunities for other service providers within
Nigeria’s aviation ecosystem such as ground handlers, inflight
service providers, fuel marketers and airport operators.

However, domestic operators are not favourably disposed to the
idea as, according to them, they will not benefit from SAATM.

The operators said unresolved issues in the industry would
overshadow the gains of the open skies policy.

These problems, they said, included multiple taxation and visa
restrictions where Nigerians were still required to have over 34
visas to travel within Africa alone.

The Chairman, Airline Operators of Nigeria, Capt. Nogie
Meggison, had noted that domestic airlines were at a disadvantage
to other African airlines largely government-owned and heavily
subsidised.

He explained that South African Airways got on the average about
$350m yearly in the past decade and Kenya Airways got about $600m
in 2016; yet, they would be competing with Nigerian airlines with
private finance at 28 per cent interest rate.

According to him, Nigeria is the only country in Africa with
eight entry points while most of the other African countries have
only one entry point.

“Nigeria is simply not ready to handle the level of unfair
competition that the full implementation of SAATM will bring upon
the country,” he added.

The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace, Mr Allen
Onyema, described SAATM as a fraud against Nigeria, adding that it
would not create a level-playing field for everyone.

“The idea behind SAATM is noble. However, in the practical
sense, it is a fraud against this country. Nigeria has the
population and the majority of the Nigerian population is mobile.
So, these countries are just making a feast out of Nigeria while at
the same time making it difficult for Nigerian airlines to go into
their countries,” he said.

For Ojuri, the Federal Government needs to engage all
stakeholders to identify their concerns and address them.

He said there should be a gradual process after the government
and legislature had taken time to develop a robust and
well-established regulatory framework, which should have clear
objectives, fair competition provisions and taxation policies for
all countries.

To address the negative effects, according to him, it is
expedient for the government through its regulatory agencies such
as the NCAA, Consumer Protection Council and other related
Ministries, Departments and Agencies to ensure that the
implementation of SAATM is done in a responsible and sustainable
manner that clearly benefits all African countries.