The International Air Transport Association (IATA) called on African governments to prioritise aviation as a strategic enabler of economic and social development.
“Aviation is economic
infrastructure for Africa. Its value lies in the long‑term benefits it
delivers. An aviation strategy focused on safety, cost-competitiveness, energy
security/sustainability, and ease of doing business will create jobs, enable
trade, support tourism, and further regional integration. The prosperity this
generates will allow governments to push forward social and economic
development more durably than any tax that might be collected from travelers,”
said Kamil Alawadhi, IATA’s Regional Vice President for Africa and the Middle
East.
A Strategy for
Aviation in Africa
At its Focus
Africa Conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, IATA urged governments to
pursue a comprehensive aviation strategy with the following elements:
1. Improving Safety
Africa has made
significant progress in aviation safety. Between 2024 and 2025, the accident
rate fell from 12.13 to 7.86 per million sectors, but it remains well above the
global average of 1.32 and is the highest among all regions.
To further improve
safety in Africa, IATA called for all parties in IATA’s Collaborative Aviation
Safety Improvement Programme (CASIP) to mobilise resources in three areas:
- Increase the implementation of ICAO
Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPS). Average effective implementation across 46
of 48 Sub Saharan African states stands at 60.34%, compared with the
global average of 69.46% and the global target of 75%.
- Publish accident reports. Between 2019-2023, only 19% of
accident reports were completed versus a global average of 63%. Accident
investigation reports that are delayed, incomplete, or unpublished
withhold valuable safety insights that can improve safety. This
underscores the need for improved compliance with state investigation
obligations under Annex 13 of the Chicago Convention.
- Leverage global safety audits. Greater use of IOSA, ISSA,
and ISAGO can strengthen airline safety performance, support
effective regulatory oversight, and promote a consistent, risk-based
approach to operational safety.
2.
Cost-Competitiveness
The cost of doing
aviation business in Africa is high. A key element of this are the taxes and
charges by governments and infrastructure providers, the burden of which is
about 15% higher in Africa than the global average. To address this, IATA
called for:
- Reversing the trend of increasing API-PNR
charges. Tanzania’s
API‑PNR charge of $45 one‑way is the highest globally, while charges in
Angola, D.R. Congo, Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya also exceed global norms.
Governments profiting from these charges—contrary to ICAO SARPs—distort
ticket pricing and undermine connectivity.
- Implementing the ECOWAS December 2025
decision to
eliminate aviation taxes and reduce select charges by 25%. Full and
consistent implementation at the national level without further delay is
critical to maximise the benefits from lowering aviation costs.
- Preserving residence-based corporate
taxation of airlines. Proposals
emerging from African countries in UN tax discussions on source‑based
taxation should be rejected. The cross-border nature of aviation makes
residence-based (tax paid at the headquarters location) the most efficient
and fair method for corporate taxation. Source-based taxation would risk
double taxation (or worse) as the ‘source’ for any one ticket is often
spread across multiple jurisdictions.
3. Ease of Doing
Business
Removing roadblocks to
ease doing business is essential for aviation to thrive. IATA highlighted two
areas of particular concern:
- Ensure frictionless repatriation of revenues in line with global standards. While treaties and bilateral agreements stipulate the right of airlines to repatriate revenues earned across their networks, governments’ failure to comply with these obligations results in funds being blocked. African countries account for the largest proportion of global blocked funds, with a total of $774 million blocked as of end-March 2026.
- Reduce visa burdens. Nearly half of intra‑African travel still
requires visas prior to departure, suppressing regional mobility, tourism,
and economic integration. Where visa requirements have been eased,
countries have seen stronger tourism flows, more resilient routes, and
greater use of regional air services.
4. Sustainability
and Energy Security: Opportunities for Africa
Recent disruptions to
the global energy supply have highlighted the link between energy security and
sustainability, particularly the production of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).
IATA noted the significant benefits that Africa can gain in energy security,
jobs, and revenue from aligning its efforts on sustainability to the global
approach:
- Support CORSIA and make Eligible Emission
Units (EEUs) available. CORSIA
is the only globally agreed economic measure to manage aviation’s climate
change impact. The continent has the potential to make some 57.6 million
EEUs available to airlines who need them to fulfil their CORSIA
obligations. While this could be a significant source of climate finance
for the continent, only Tanzania, Malawi, Rwanda, Gambia, Sierra Leone,
Madagascar, and Nigeria have taken initial steps to enter the market. IATA
urges all African governments to make use of their potential in line with
the provisions of the Paris Agreement.
- Promote SAF production. IATA’s Global Feedstock Assessment shows that Sub‑Saharan Africa could supply up to 106 million tonnes of SAF‑suitable feedstock by 2050, largely from agricultural residues, forestry waste, and municipal solid waste. This could be supplemented with energy crops grown on marginal or degraded land areas. With strong, predictable incentive‑based policies and investments in collections and processing infrastructure, the current 1.5 Mt of announced renewable fuel capacity could grow exponentially, creating jobs and shoring up energy security. -TradeArabia News Service