Page 6 - LUA September - October 2023 Magzter
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COVER STORY
away from the capital city of Kigali called
Bugesera International Airport. Qatar
Airways will have 60 percent ownership
of the new airport and it will also acquire
49 percent of shares in the country’s
airline Rwandair. Also in May 2023, Qatar
Airways Cargo launched its first hub
outside Qatar and began operations at its
new hub in Kigali.
Other developments pointed out by
Muse include the African Continental
Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA)
and the Single African Air Transport
Market (SAATM).
“AfCFTA is an initiative by the African
Union and it is about opening up borders.
We want to make Africa operate like
the European Union, where there is a
borderless movement and less restriction
infrastructure and enabling policies are between countries for free trade. SAATM
introduced in African airports. is about opening up the skies. We want
“African airports serve as important the freedom of skies which means we can
transportation hubs that link countries move freely within the African continent
in the continent to one another and to without those restrictions,” he said.
the rest of the world. African airports are “For example,” he added, “I should be able
key for facilitating trade, and tourism, to fly goods from Europe directly to Nigeria
boosting economic development and without making a stopover in Nairobi.”
linking people between Africa and the Meanwhile, Alemu spoke about the
rest of the globe. Africa as a continent We want to ensure developments at the Ethiopian Airlines
faces limitations in terms of airport that the aeroplanes, front. Ethiopian Airlines is Africa's largest
infrastructure, system and policy once they drop the airline, providing both passenger and
compared to other developing continents. cargo services. One of its strategic eight
The air connectivity between airports is electronics and dry business units, Ethiopian Cargo and
also lower thus creating a gap in what the goods at Eldoret Logistics Services covers more than 130
continent could have achieved,” he said. Airport from Asia and international destinations around the
Despite these challenges, the air cargo world with both belly hold capacity
experts and professionals see many the Middle East , are and 67 dedicated freighter services.
positive developments in the African able to take off with “We have invested more in fleet,
continent. For instance, Muse took the flowers, vegetables infrastructure, systems and human
example of how Rwanda is building a new capital to meet the continent's passenger
airport in partnership with Qatar Airways. and fruits. and cargo demand while also connecting
In fact, the country of Rwanda is BONFACE MUSE Africa to the rest of the world. We
building a new $2 billion airport in the KENYA AIRPORTS AUTHORITY operate a state-of-the-art cargo facility
Bugesera District just 40 kilometres with a capacity to handle one
4 LUA SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2023
