IATA urges African govts to unblock bottlenecks in financial aid pledged for aviation

August 01, 2020: The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is urging African governments to unblock bottlenecks so that urgently needed financial relief pledged for air transport and tourism reaches the distressed businesses. It is meant to help and implement the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) Take-Off guidance to ensure a safe restart to aviation.

As a consequence of the pandemic and associated restrictions, African airlines are forecast to lose $2 billion in 2020. Without urgent financial relief, the industry is at risk of collapse, putting about 3.3 million jobs and $33 billion in African GDP in jeopardy.

To date, the governments of sub-Saharan Africa Rwanda, Senegal, Cote D’Ivoire and Burkina Faso have pledged a total of $311 million in direct financial support to air transport. A further $30 billion has been promised by some governments, international finance bodies and other institutions including the African Development Bank, African Export Import Bank, African Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for air transport and tourism.  However, much of the relief is yet to reach those in need due to institutional bureaucracy, complex application and creditworthiness processes, as well as cumbersome conditions to secure finance.

“Over $30 billion in financial support has been pledged to aviation and tourism in Africa.  Some of this money has been allocated by governments, but far too little of it has reached its intended recipients.  Governments and lenders need to urgently unchoke the bottlenecks so that the money can flow quickly, otherwise it will be too late to prevent closures and job losses.  There will be no point re-opening the borders and skies if there is no industry left to speak of that is capable of supporting trade and tourism, which are the key components of any thriving economy,” said Muhammad Albakri, IATA’s regional vice president for Africa and the Middle East.

Resuming aviation safely in Africa is essential to get the continent’s economies up and running.  With African governments tentatively planning and considering the resumption of regional and intercontinental scheduled passenger flights, IATA is advocating for the harmonized adoption of the ICAO Take-Off guidance which outlines recommended biosafety measures.  It includes adequate physical distancing, wearing face masks or coverings, enhanced sanitation and disinfection, health screening, contact tracing and the use of passenger health declaration forms.  It also calls for testing, where rapid and reliable testing is available.

“To instill public confidence and avoid repeating the mistakes made after 9/11 - which created disjointed airport security measures - governments and local authorities must adopt ICAO’s biosafety measures in a harmonised fashion and implement them consistently and diligently.  This will also ensure that air travel is able to support the revival of economies without becoming a vector for spreading Covid-19,” said Albakri.

So far, Benin, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Senegal and Tanzania have allowed or announced the imminent resumption of scheduled international passenger flights.  Combined, they account for 19 percent of passenger traffic on the continent.

Air transport has helped make globalisation possible. This has contributed to successfully lifting more than one billion people from poverty since 1990, and aviation continues to facilitate this by contributing to 15 of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals.