African governments have been urged to invest more in aviation infrastructure development and give tax incentives to airlines to bolster aviation business on the continent.

Elijah Chingosho, African Airlines Association outgoing Secretary-General, said lack of fully liberalised airspace, high taxes and poor infrastructure, especially at airports, continued to hurt the industry, affecting its potential to contribute to the continent’s GDP.

He said there was a need for governments to put in place the necessary infrastructure to enable African airlines to fight competition from European and Middle Easter carriers.

He spoke on Monday during the 49th Annual General Assembly and Summit at the Kigali Convention Centre in Rwanda.

“Airport infrastructure in many parts of Africa can barely cope with the demand of air travel. Governments must therefore develop strategies to improve facilities to help accommodate more than 300 million people expected to travel by air by 2025,” he added.

Iyabo Sosina, African Civil Aviation Commission Secretary General, called on governments across the continent to urgently implement the 1999 Yamoussoukro Decision, which committed more than 44 countries to promote regional air markets through an open-skies policy. She said African countries should consider aviation as an economic enabler to the continent’s development and, therefore, prioritise the sector in terms of investment and tax incentives.

Raphael Kuuchi, Iata Vice President for Africa, said the need to create a single African airspace was essential to boost intra-Africa trade. “It is important that governments work towards the realisation of a fully liberalised airspace and create conducive business environment for airlines.”

He said African airlines would become more profitable when such constraints were addressed.

“We are calling on governments to fully implement the Iata Worldwide Slot Guidelines to fairly and efficiently manage scarce capacity.”

According to Chance Ndagano, Acting CEO of RwandAir, better and seamless connectivity would improve movement of goods and people and boost economic development on the continent. “Therefore, there is need for governments to urgently deal with the barriers that have hindered the implementation of the Yamoussoukro Declaration to support airline business on the continent.”

According to Iata, there is growing affluence across Africa, which has created greater demand for air travel. Iata estimates that, by 2034, eight of the 10 fastest growing aviation markets will be in Africa, while nearly 300 million passengers will travel to and from African destinations.