The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has identified five strategic priorities he says are essential to strengthening connectivity across Africa, stressing that the continent can no longer afford to remain among the least connected regions globally.

Keyamo made the remarks in a paper presented on Thursday at the Annual Lecture Series of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport in Abuja, where he underscored the importance of enhanced air connectivity as a catalyst for Africa’s economic growth, industrial development, and regional integration.

Represented by the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Olubunmi Kuku, the minister said aviation must be regarded not as a luxury, but as critical economic infrastructure with the capacity to drive transformation across African economies.

Addressing policymakers, aviation experts, diplomats, and industry stakeholders, Kuku noted that Africa’s vast economic potential would remain largely unrealised unless governments take deliberate steps to improve cross-border connectivity and ease the movement of people, goods, and services across the continent.

She said, “Air transport is no longer a luxury reserved for a privileged few. In the 21st century, aviation is an economic infrastructure. For a continent as vast and diverse as Africa, where geography often limits road and rail integration, aviation becomes the bridge that connects economies, accelerates trade, and strengthens people-to-people relationships.”

The FAAN boss explained that the Yamoussoukro Decision and the Single African Air Transport Market were designed to remove barriers that restrict African airlines and to establish a more open and liberalised continental aviation sector.

She added that deeper liberalisation of the aviation sector would help reduce airfares, increase flight frequencies, boost tourism flows, create jobs, and deliver significant economic growth across Africa.

She stated, “When connectivity improves, investment follows. When investment grows, jobs are created. When jobs are created, poverty declines, and prosperity expands. The cost of inaction is far greater than the challenges of reform.”

Speaking on practical steps to achieve the vision, the minister outlined five priorities to accelerate Africa’s connectivity agenda.

She said the first priority is the fast-tracking of the Single African Air Transport Market, alongside full implementation of the Yamoussoukro Decision through gradual and pragmatic liberalisation among African states.

 

The second priority, she noted, is the harmonisation of legal and judicial frameworks across the continent to strengthen compliance with the Cape Town Convention and enhance dispute resolution mechanisms that can attract global aviation financing.