EDITOR’S NOTE: Global Perspectives is a NCS editorial and dwell occasion collection exploring the dynamic economies on the frontlines of world transformation. The first Global Perspectives dwell occasion, taking place in London on November 3, 2025, will discover Africa’s position in a altering world, that includes knowledgeable evaluation from leaders, CEOs, and innovators.
One of the quickest methods to fly from Nairobi, Kenya, to Marrakech, Morocco, is through Paris, France.
Despite being on the identical continent, round 3,700 miles miles aside, the 2 locations haven’t any direct flights.
It’s not simply these two metropolises: lots of the continent’s capitals and largest cities haven’t any direct flights, or very restricted schedules, which frequently means vacationers find yourself making a number of layovers, sometimes in Europe or the Middle East.
“The biggest challenge is market access, in the context of allowing airlines to move passengers freely in and out of the African cities without the restrictions that currently exist,” says Raphael Kuuchi, consulting director of presidency, authorized and trade affairs on the African Airlines Association (AFRAA).
The continent’s aviation sector largely operates on bilateral air service agreements, contracts made between particular person international locations that prohibit which airways can function particular routes.
Many teams, together with AFRAA, try to maneuver the continent towards a single aviation market, just like the European Union (EU), which permits any EU airline to function any route inside the territory, and removes restrictions on operations like pricing and frequency, supplied airports have slots out there.
In addition to lack of connectivity, Africa’s aviation sector is plagued with excessive prices, infrastructure challenges, regulatory constraints and security issues, based on the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The area wants extra funding in infrastructure, security oversight and regional hubs: the African Development Bank estimates a $25 billion funding gap by 2040.
Africa’s aviation sector was estimated to help $75 billion in financial exercise and eight.1 million jobs, based on the IATA. But the continent accounts for simply 2% of air vacationers worldwide — a enormous opportunity for development.
A 2021 report from the IATA predicts that liberalized markets could create greater than half a million jobs in Africa, and add almost $4 billion to its GDP.
“Africa is one of the fastest-growing markets when it comes to aviation,” says Kuuchi, including that there at the moment are coordinated efforts between organizations together with the African Union, AFRAA and the African Civil Aviation Commission “to ensure that our citizens are able to move about much more freely and cost effectively.”
In Europe, flights inside the continent account for two-thirds of routes, however in Africa, intra-continental flights make up simply 21%.
Part of the issue is economies of scale, says Kirby Gordon, chief advertising and marketing officer for FlySafair, one of many continent’s main low-cost carriers and the second largest by seat capability.
“The reality is, air travel in Africa is still really, really, really tiny compared to the rest of the world,” says Gordon. “We’re the largest Boeing (737) operator in Africa, and we’ve got 37 aircraft — compared to Southwest, which is a portion of the North American market, and they’ve got, like, 800.”
FlySafair launched in South Africa 2014, and right now has 9 home and 5 worldwide routes.
The 5 intra-African routes they’ve established are “well-trodden,” and align with main tourism spots, like Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, or enterprise hubs, like Windhoek, Namibia.
“When it comes to looking at intra-African travel, a number of routes can still be quite thin, they’re still sort of in a developmental phase,” says Gordon.
“Many of the city pairs in Africa, the daily average passenger throughput is below 100 seats,” says AFRAA’s Kuuchi. “If you have an airline operating on such a route, and the minimum size of your aircraft is probably a 737, which has over 120 seats, it might not be economically viable for you to operate that route.”
This low demand drives costs up, as do increased operational prices — together with jet gas costs, infrastructural inefficiencies and airport taxes, says Somas Appavou, IATA’s regional director for exterior affairs in Africa. While globally, airways make round $7 per passenger, in Africa, it’s simply $1, he says, including: “This is basically what is not allowing aviation to have the proper take off in in Africa.”
Many African states deal with aviation as a “cash cow,” burdening the sector with excessive taxes and extreme charges, Appavou says, including that these insurance policies are shortsighted: “Aviation is an enabler; taxing aviation itself will not bring you what it could in terms of contribution to your GDP and job creation.”
While decrease fares would assist, worth is just not the one barrier, says Gordon: “When it actually comes to that leisure market, which is a significant part of what (FlySafair does), you need to make sure that your population has the means.”
In 2024, Africa’s common GDP per capita was round $2,885, based on information from the World Bank, in comparison with the worldwide common of $13,664, leaving air journey out of attain for many individuals on the continent.
While there are various components working in opposition to Africa’s aviation sector, “getting an open skies solution in place would be such a game changer,” says Gordon. “Because of our scale, the whole industry is really quite fragile, and it really needs every opportunity in order to really be able to grow and thrive as best that it possibly can.”
A flagship African Union initiative, the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM), launched in 2018 to enhance intra-African air journey. So far, 38 international locations — together with Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Ethiopia, and Rwanda — have signed the dedication.
However, implementation has been uneven, says Kuuchi. SAATM has drafted rules, together with guidelines round continental competitors and shopper safety, which at the moment are being shared country-to-country in a “pilot implementation project” to introduce the framework to aviation stakeholders.
“This is yielding very good results,” says Kuuchi. “In the last four years we have seen 108 new routes developed.”
Alignment of visa insurance policies between nations could additionally increase journey. SAATM is encouraging nations to undertake visa-free initiatives for African nations, or e-visas and visas on arrival, to advertise free motion on the continent, says Kuuchi.
Currently, solely Benin, Rwanda, Seychelles, The Gambia and Ghana permit visa-free entry to all African passport holders, however Kuuchi says extra nations are starting to loosen up their visa insurance policies.
Some international locations are already flying excessive with their aviation ambitions, says the IATA’s Appavou, highlighting Ethiopia and Rwanda: “Aviation is a pillar of their economic development strategy, and it is very clear both nations have been investing massively in infrastructure, including airports.”
Ethiopian Airlines — one of many continent’s oldest airways, and its largest by seat capability — has outgrown its present residence at Addis Ababa’s Bole Airport, and is now seeking investors to help its $10 billion “mega airport,” which it says will be the largest on the continent and can initially host 60 million passengers.
RwandAir, though newer, is making daring strikes out there. It started operations a little over 20 years in the past, and serves 17 routes in Africa, and 5 internationally together with London, Paris and Dubai.
Rwanda has been extremely dedicated to the SAATM initiative, implementing measures like visa-on-arrival. Its new $2 billion airport is slated to open subsequent 12 months.
“Developing those airports into major hubs on the continent has boosted investment, trade and tourism,” says Appavou, including that East Africa — which incorporates Ethiopia, Kenya, and Rwanda — is mostly higher linked, because the area exports a excessive variety of perishable items, which require quick, frequent and dependable connectivity.
The EU can be supporting the continent’s single aviation market ambitions with monetary and technical help, says Javier Niño Pérez, the ambassador of the European Union to the African Union and the UN Economic Commission for Africa.
A €5 million ($5.8 million) program has been operating for 4 years, offering experience from the EU Aviation Safety Agency, and this program is being renewed with an extra €10 million ($11.6 million), extending help via 2030.
“Based on the 30 years of experience we have with the EU single market, we’re fully aware that air connectivity is existential, because it is an engine for trade, it creates jobs, it creates business,” says Pérez.
There’s nonetheless a solution to go, although. Ongoing conflicts are a problem for the area, and competing priorities — together with meals safety, local weather change and common vitality entry — usually imply the aviation sector is missed.
Despite the challenges, Pérez is optimistic for the sector’s future, and believes it’s “one of the most significant elements” of Africa’s future political, commerce and operational integration as a continent.
Appavou agrees. He emphasizes the massive geographical scale of Africa — evaluating flying the continent north-to-south as the identical as touring from New York to Istanbul, and east-to-west as going from Paris to Mumbai — is as a lot of a problem as it’s an opportunity, and alter isn’t going to occur in a single day.
Regional blocs — just like the East African Community, or ECOWAS, a assortment of 15 nations in West Africa — have already got financial and commerce offers in place, making it simpler to type open-sky aviation agreements, which may then be scaled to the continent, he says.
“When governments actually see aviation as a strategic enabler, the results go beyond the runway,” says Appavou. “It really has a multiplying effect.”