Kigali, 27 February 2019 – President Kagame officiated the opening ceremony of the fourth edition of Aviation Africa Summit and Exhibition - the major trade event for the aerospace and defense industries, being held in Kigali from the 27 to 28 February, 2019.

Addressing the gathering, President Kagame said that the fact that one-third of African countries are landlocked should not be an excuse for underdevelopment since all of them are air-linked.

 “Sixteen countries in Africa are landlocked, including Rwanda. That is almost one-third of Africa. But every country is “air-linked”. So geography should not be seen as an excuse for underdevelopment. This highlights the importance of regional integration, where there have been some notable achievements over the last year. Chief among these, for our purposes, is the adoption of the Single African Air Transport Market. However, the full promise of this pact only becomes apparent in the wider context of the African Continental Free Trade Area and the Protocol on the Free Movement of Persons, which we also signed last year — a number of countries. Initiatives like the common-format African passport, and the push to remove visa requirements for Africans traveling in Africa, are also significant developments" President Kagame said.

The President emphasized that it was important to attract more countries to join the Single African Air Transport Market and to fully implement its provisions instead of adopting protectionism policies.

“Protectionism among ourselves is a short-sighted policy, which only serves to keep our continental market fragmented, inefficient, and expensive, thereby reducing opportunities for African firms. Removing barriers on the movement of goods and people means there will be steadily increasing demand for commercial air services in the years ahead" President Kagame said.

President Kagame further promised that Rwanda intended to continue investing in aviation infrastructure, including growing the national carrier, RwandAir, and inaugurating a new state-of-the-art international airport in the near future.

This is the second time Rwanda hosts the Aviation Africa Summit organised by Times Aerospace. Under the theme “Flying forward together - developing partnerships for Africa's future skies” the two-day summit and exhibition, brings together leaders across the civil and military aviation spectrum to discuss and debate the key issues that are driving change across the African continent. With the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) agreement now in place, leaders will discuss the challenges and successes surrounding the implementation of the agreement.

The co-located exhibition features over 100 global aviation companies and is attended by over 800 delegates. 

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