By CHIMPREPORTS
Though Uganda has not yet joined the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM), the Director General of the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA), Fred Bamwesigye, is very positive that Uganda will soon join the African Continental Air Transport Market and will fully implement it. However, he didn’t state the date, when Uganda is expected to join other African member states, currently 37 out of 54 countries. Mr. Bamwesigye revealed this on February 29, 2024 during an awareness workshop that was organised to encourage member states under their umbrella body Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) to join a single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) and how to fully implement it.
While addressing the media, Mr. Fred Bamwesigye appreciated member states that have already subscribed to the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM), saying, it’s the right way to go to improve air transport at a continental level.
“The Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) is a good market strategy for our Air Transport and Uganda will soon join other member states. Uganda’s Mission fits in our air-sector-agenda, and once Uganda joins, it would be easier for us to reap the benefits of being a member-state. Since Uganda is a landlocked country, its important for her to join this Initiative to easier interconnectivity among member states. It also allows free movement of goods and services within member states. The single African Air Transport Market is an initiative of the African Union through its specialized department of the African Civil Aviation Commission and aims at ensuring interconnectivity among member states.“
According to Bamwesigye, Uganda is currently working on the initiative to join, “and we are waiting for cabinet approval.”
“We are taking step by step because we want to make sure, when we join, we are strong enough to compete with other countries and also be able to reap big in the market,” Mr. Bamwesigye noted.
“We have streamlined our internal processes to be able to compete at a global scale. We are expanding and upgrading Entebbe International Airport and building new airports in upcountry. We have delayed to join because of our regulatory regime, which was inlooking and not looking at external factors like the external market, but this has been addressed. We also improved the technical capacity of our staff and they are now able to handle all areas of Aviation, like regulation, service provision etcetera. The Airport now handles 2.3m commercial flight passengers in a year and the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority continues to grow the air sector, ” Mr. Bamwesigye disclosed.
When asked whether Uganda would enjoy reduction in air travel fares, incase it became a member, Mr. Bamwesigye, said: It’s not possible in a free market-economy, but rather you must be able to compete with other member states.
The Consumer protection specialist for the African Civil Aviation Commission, a specialized Agency of the African Union , Mr. Emmanuel Buteera Mwesigye, said this was the third meeting to convince Uganda to join the single African Air Transport Market, and that so far there is some progress.
“We shall move to the remaining States to carry out more awareness campaigns.“
He appealed to the Governments of Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya to join this initiative, so that other remaining countries also follow, especially those in the East African Region.
“For example, Uganda was able to join Kenya and Tanzania in implementing a network area, which started in 2014. This very network should be replicated in the Aviation Industry.”
The Chief Strategic Planning and Research at the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Simal Amol, who represented the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM), challenged the Management of the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority not to look at air transport as a catalyst for tourism, but also to look at it in terms of trade and industrialization.
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