ADDIS ABABA - Air transport in Africa is twice as expensive as the world average, hindering continental trade links and economic growth in the 54 countries that make up the continent.
That’s according to Lars-Gunar Comen, director of Euroavia International, which advises the airports and aviation industry. It organised the Africa Air Cargo summit this week in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Comen says the excessive costs of air travel hinder economic cooperation more than tariff barriers, though he added that Ethiopia was working to increase economic connectivity through air travel.
According to Euroavia, Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa. is the leading flight destination in Africa, with 85 daily international flights out of Bole Addis International Airport, edging out Morocco’s Casablanca with 82, and easily beating South Africa’s Johannesburg, which he said had 48.
Workneh Gebeyehu, Ethiopia’s transport minister, told delegates that for landlocked nations like Ethiopia, air transport, especially of cargo, was critical for boosting international trade.
With nearly 100 million people, Ethiopia is the most populous landlocked nation in the world, and its growing economy has put pressure on the ports of its neighbour Djibouti.
“Ethiopia is already the second supplier of roses in Africa, next to Kenya, and plans to boost export through its air cargo, with a $107-million expansion of its main cargo terminal at Bole international airport,” said Gebeyehu.
He added that Ethiopian Airlines currently flies 37 freight destinations, with 19 airplanes transporting more than 820,000 tons annually.
“A large part of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) is related to international trade, making transportation a crucial axis in it,” he said.
With a rising middle class and large tracts of uncultivated arable land which needed investment, Africa’s need for leisure and cargo air transport would only grow.
(c) enca.com
No comments:
Post a Comment