The African Union Commission (AUC) plans to launch the African Single Market for Air Transport (SAATM) in Addis Ababa on January 28 2018 during the African Union Summit.
This will be the first flagship project of the AU 2063 Agenda nearly two decades after the adoption of the Yamoussoukro Decision in 1999.
According to Amani Abou-Zeid, Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy of the African Union Commission, “the launch of the single market for air transport in Africa will promote trade, cross-border investment in the sectors of services, including tourism “.
“This will result in the creation of 300.000 additional direct jobs and 2 million indirect jobs contributing enormously to the integration and socio-economic growth of the continent,” he added at a ceremony organized as a prelude to launch.
SAATM was created with the goal of improving connectivity, facilitating trade and tourism, creating jobs and ensuring that industry plays a greater role in the global economy and contributing significantly to the AU 2063 Agenda.
So far, 23 African countries on 55 have subscribed to the single market of African air transport while 44 African countries have signed the Yamoussoukro Decision.
The Declaration on the Establishment of a Single Market for Air Transport in Africa, as a flagship project of the AU 2063 Agenda, was adopted by the Assembly of the African Union (AU) in January 2015 .
Immediately after, eleven (11) AU Member States declared their solemn commitment to establish a single market for air transport through the full implementation of the 1999 Yamoussoukro Decision which provides for full liberalization of access to markets between African States, the free exercise of traffic rights, the elimination of restrictions on ownership and the full liberalization of frequencies, tariffs and capacities.
To date 23 Member States have adhered to this solemn commitment, namely Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon , Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Togo and Zimbabwe.
