Why is Africa afraid of Africans trading with Africans?

By Erika Achum, CEO, VivaJets

In recent years, the narrative around Africa has been filled with promises of growing economies, increasing intra-African trade ambitions, a rising middle class, and the much-celebrated African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), which has synthesized the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) that will enable free aviation mobility across the continent. 

However, with recent events, I am reminded yet again of how painfully slow, progress has been in aligning policy with aspiration. I’ve spent years navigating global policy, but the greatest operational absurdity I face is within my own continent. Whilst we speak of seamless integration in the media and at conferences, the on-the-ground reality for African professionals moving across Africa is punitive, costly, and humiliating.

A few months ago, on a ferry flight from Dubai to Libreville, a routine Air Traffic Control (ATC)rerouting made continuing operationally unfeasible without a technical stop for fuel. Ethiopian and Eritrean ATC rejected our emergency diversion request. We were forced to contact Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Jeddah not only accepted us immediately but granted visas-on-arrival so our crew could rest, shower, and continue. Where is our continent’s agility?

Whilst flying a highly influential African footballer to Gaborone, Botswana, authorities blatantly refused our crew’s entry. This is a clear violation of ICAO Annex 9, which grants crew members on a General Declaration (GenDec) right to access for 72 hours. Why do our own governments violate global aviation laws against their own professionals?

Recently in Cairo, Egypt, our crew was again blocked from entry solely because they hold Nigerian passports and the aircraft flies a Nigerian flag. The bureaucratic penalty? Being offered a “crew lounge” at $200 an hour. This isn’t safety! It is a punitive tax on African mobility.

In September, my colleagues attending the Africa Energy Week in Cape Town, South Africa, endured an 18-hour layover, kept at the airport like criminals, and denied access to a shower or even a clean place to brush their teeth.

For too long, the idea of “African unity” has been sabotaged by the lack of “Open Skies.” We are a continent where air tickets are prohibitively expensive, routes are indirect (often forcing a layover in Europe or the Middle East), and flight frequencies are low. This isn’t just an inconvenience; it is a tax on progress.

This protectionist mindset, fueled by a misguided fear that liberalization will cause smaller national carriers to fail, has instead ensured that all African airlines struggle to compete on a global scale. African aviation only accounts for a fraction of global air traffic, despite having 18% of the world’s population. Our fragmented skies are not protecting our airlines; they are suffocating our economy, and the suffocation extends to other areas of our economy besides aviation.

Africa needs mobility to make significant progress, and aviation provides this critical leverage, though hampered by inadequate infrastructure. Therefore, the benefits of free aviation are enormous. It will lead to lower fares and higher frequencies, ultimately resulting in free flow of people and goods. This means growing employment and revenue for multiple countries. Open skies will also unlock an intra-African tourism market, keeping travel revenue on the continent

There is a growing conversation about building what we need here in Africa, from aircraft parts to full maintenance and manufacturing industry. I believe in that future. But to get there, we must stimulate intra-African demand, trade, and movement. No manufacturer will set up shop in a market without adequate volume. If the economic environment doesn’t support scale, it won’t make business sense to invest.

Trade doesn’t happen without movement. Goods don’t move without air and logistics infrastructure. Business relationships don’t form without mobility. Before we dream about building engines in Nigeria or Ethiopia, let’s first remove the barriers preventing us from simply flying from Lagos to Addis Ababa without red tape. Instead of fostering industrialization, our policies are reinforcing dependency. We import almost everything we need, and yet we create no incentive or pathway for value to be created within.

There are several tough questions we must ask ourselves to really get to the depth of the conundrum we have put ourselves in. Why would it take 11 days to get a permit to Sierra Leonewith an aircraft registered in the same ECOWAS economic zone? Why would it cost me $7,000 in airport and handling fees in Sierra Leone when it would cost me $3,500 dollars in England?

Why would it take 7 days to get a landing permit in South Africa, a fellow African country?

We cannot keep talking about AfCFTA and free trade when these barriers still exist. Yet, whilst we create walls between ourselves, the great economic powers are excluding us from their partnerships. For instance, 12 out the 16 countries the US recently issued a partial ban on are African. Is it not time we actually wake up and start to look internally on how we can connect, trade and prosper better?

Intra Africa trade and integration is a vital condition for the continent’s prosperity and free aviation is a crucial step towards achieving this.The first step is harmonization. We need one aviation regulatory language across Africa. That means a unified and digitized landing permit systems across regions like ECOWAS and the African Union. Also, recognition and implementation of regional travel documents that are currently in place on paper but ignored in practice.

Moreover, we need a reduction in the tariffs and taxes that currently penalize operators for trying to do business within the continent. And, open skies policies that go beyond signing agreements to actual enforcement.

If we’re serious about integration, the skies must be the first frontier we conquer. Without that, AfCFTA and other continental initiatives will remain paper tigers.

Despite the challenges, we’re not waiting for the perfect system. At VivaJets, we’re innovating within the limits of our environment. We are building proprietary charter technology that simplifies access to private aviation across Africa. We’ve expanded our service footprint across multiple countries, maintaining high standards of aircraft availability, safety, and luxury.

Through VivaJets, we have connected more entrepreneurs, executives, and investors than ever before. We have also built partnerships with international service providers to bridge the infrastructural gaps our region presents. 

These wins, though hard-earned, are a testament to the resilience and creativity of African aviation entrepreneurs. But imagine how much more we could do if the policies caught up with the vision?

African governments must realize that private sector growth in aviation is not a luxury; it’s a necessity for continental development. Every time a flight is delayed for bureaucratic reasons or grounded for want of a permit, we lose time, opportunity, and competitive advantage.

The world isn’t waiting. If Africa continues to treat aviation as a peripheral sector, we will be left behind in the global race for innovation, trade, and industrialization. The choice is clear: either break down the walls holding our skies hostage or watch others fly past us.

It’s time to act.

Erika Achum is CEO, VivaJets