A travel and tourism expert, Mr Ikechi Uko, has urged African countries to urgently implement the Yamoussoukro Decision toward ensuring greater air connectivity across the continent.
Uko, the promoter of the Akwaaba African Travel and Tour Market, made the call while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Monday.
The Yamoussoukro Decision was formally adopted during the Assembly of Heads of State held in Lomé, Togo, in July 2000.
The objective of Yamoussoukro Decision is defined under Article 2, Scope of Application, as the gradual liberalisation of scheduled and non-scheduled intra-African air transport services
“Without the implementation of the Yamoussoukro Decision, it is difficult to have a profitable airline in Africa because the success of an airline depends on its connectivity,’’ he said.
According to him, lack of connectivity cost people more and reduce business transactions.
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Uko said, “The biggest investors in Nigeria since the past 10 years have been South Africans. So, if there was no connection between the countries, they would not have been able to run the businesses.
“We need to open up the borders for Africans to move easily within Africa. The more you inter-connect Africa, the better it is for the economy of these countries and their citizens’’.
He also advised stakeholders in Nigeria aviation and tourism sectors to collaborate on how to growth the industry in order to contribute to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“Aviation and tourism depend on each other but in Nigeria they have not been depending on each other. The aviation people believe they don’t need tourism and the tourism people don’t want to work with aviation.
“So, none of them can grow. Each person is working against the other person’s interest but in the countries that I know that thrive on tourism, one grew the other,’’ he said.
Uko said countries like United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Kenya and Ethiopia had successfully integrated aviation and tourism and was recording growth in both sectors
