Slow to Take Off

By+Aggrey+Mutambo

AT Ethiopias main airport at Bole in Addis Ababa， Chinese and local engineers in helmets and overalls work round the clock on a passenger terminal. They have been busy with this non-stop cycle for the last two years when the Ethiopian Airports Enterprise （EAE） first announced its ambitious expansion program.

Estimated to cost $350 million， the project， due for completion by the end of 2017， has been contracted to the China Communications Construction Co. Ltd. （CCCC）， with a financing arrangement from the Export-Import Bank of China. According to a profile of expansion by EAE， Singaporean architecture firm， CPG Corp.， was also involved in the design.

Once completed， says Hiwot Mosisa， Deputy CEO of EAE in charge of airport infrastructure and facility， the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport will come of age， linking the region with the outside world by handling more passengers.

The expansion is mainly focused on modernizing the current main terminals. CCCC will， by the end of this year， have developed new boarding gates， installed new boarding bridges， VIP passenger lounges and boarding areas and built a new car park.

“We are hoping that this will triple our passenger handling capacity， which will mean that the airport can handle about 20 million passengers annually，” Mosisa told an audience attending the Modern Airports Africa Conference in Nairobi in January.

“This expansion and other related projects are aimed at making Addis Ababa the hub of the region，” said Mosisa.

Opening up

The Ethiopian Government has been investing heavily in aviation. The country recently announced it will put up a new airport on the outskirts of the capital. Set to cost up to$4 billion， the facility is set for completion by 2024 and will have up to four standard runways， according to preliminary information issued by EAE.

Currently， there are five other regional airports and airstrips being expanded in the country at the cost of $105 million. Set to be completed by 2019， EAE says these five will make air transportation within the country easier and hence link the main cities as well as open up the hinterland to investors.

Ethiopias craze in expanding its aviation infrastructure is not isolated. In neighboring Kenya， two main projects worth $650 million will see the airports in Malindi and Embu counties get a massive facelift， Transport Principal Secretary Irungu Nyakera told ChinAfrica， adding that the projects should be completed before 2018.

“Malindi is a tourist town， an expansion will encourage more airlines to fly in directly which will in turn have a ripple-effect on the growth of tourism，”he explained on the sidelines of the conference in Nairobi.

In Africa， there are currently about 10 airport projects involving either rebuilding of old airports or constructing new ones. According to budgetary estimates projected by each of these projects， Africa will spend about $35 billion on this infrastructure.

Carriers investing more

This expansion is also fueling investments by carriers. According to an analysis by the Seabury Group， a leading global advisory and professional services firm headquartered in the United States， African airlines made 39 orders for commercial aircraft in 2016， either to Boeing or Airbus. A third of them were ordered by Ethiopian Airlines. As only four major airlines（Ethiopian Airlines， Kenya Airways， South African Airways and EgyptAir） are involved in global alliances， the group predicts

more joint ventures in aviation transport especially between the big and small operators.

“The need for more and modern airport facilities is stronger now than before. Africa is growing and people need to move faster to do their business regardless of where they are coming from，” Alexandre Mbiam， Strategic and Financial Advisor at consulting firm Ashdown Advisory， told ChinAfrica.

“Such growth demands that investing in infrastructure， for African nations， is no longer an option， but a requirement，” he added.

Mbiam， an economist from Cameroon， says rapid urbanization on the continent means more people will travel by air in the future. The International Air Transport Association （IATA） says 70 million people traveled through African airports in 2015， creating about 7 million jobs both directly and indirectly and sustaining an annual aviation growth of 5 percent per year.

These investments， he says， are needed to replace archaic facilities common in Africa as well as improve on the safety of transportation in Africa， which is considered the worst in the world.

Africa already has some of the busiest airports. South Africa， Egypt， Nigeria， Kenya， Morocco， and Tunisia all carry a combined passenger total of more than 100 million annually according to IATA. For cargo， the main airports in Nairobi， Cairo， Addis Ababa， Johannesburg and Lagos transport a combined weight of 1.24 million tons.

These are the countries that were among the early signatories to the Yamoussoukro Declaration in 1991 to liberalize the skies as a way of developing the aviation industry. Known as the Single Aviation Market， 44 countries in Africa signed the treaty to remove barriers to air transport and have common standards for air safety.

Interconnected infrastructure

In a speech to the African Union， then AU Commission Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma paid specific tribute to Rwanda， Ethiopia， South Africa， Nigeria and Kenya for leading the way in aviation but said more countries must join in this growth.

“We must encourage other countries to join them to open their airspaces to all African countries，” she said.

“Africas future will depend on integration and this includes building interconnected infrastructure，” she added.

But there are challenges. Africas infrastructure is still below par， argues Amani Abou-Zeid， the new Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy at the AU Commission.

Abou-Zeid， an Egyptian development expert， told ChinAfrica just before she was elected that the shortage of energy and transport infrastructure has all contributed to slow progress.

“If you look at the situation now， each country has focused on its own infrastructure growth， be it in energy， transportation or technology. This has led to other countries advancing while others lag behind，” she said.

“I think we will have to invest in transnational projects even as we strengthen national infrastructure，” she said.

According to data from the World Bank， the intra-Africa air transport market remains largely underserved. At 32 percent， Africa trails Europe （51 percent）， North America （66 percent） and Asia （68 percent）.

In fact， five African carriers from Ethiopia， Egypt， Morocco， South Africa and Kenya carry two thirds of Africa passenger numbers from 54 countries， according to an analysis from financial group Ascend.

This in turn makes air transport expensive compared to other regions.

“We still lack sufficient modern facilities in Africa. Air transport is still underdeveloped. Throughout Africa， there is a persistent problem of lack of specialized facilities to move sensitive goods for example. In other places， there isnt even enough parking for travelers，” lamented Sanjeev Gadhia， CEO of Astral Aviation Ltd.， a cargo carrier based at Nairobis Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

In fact， Africas airlines were projected to make a combined loss of $500 million in 2016， according to IATA. Kenya Airways， for example， has made consistent losses since 2014. In 2016， it announced a $258 million loss， according to its company records.

Gadhia thinks the current sustained improvements in infrastructure will see Africas air transport take off. But he also recommends sufficient training for staff at airports， privatepublic partnerships to alleviate costs， as well as what he called an “interface” between aviation transport and other forms of transportation.

“Investment in air cargo infrastructure should be a priority. Customer focus is essential， especially now that we expect competition among regional airports to rise. Flexible， smart terminals， for example， are the way for the future，” he said.

“If we have a proper interface between air and other forms of transport， we remove delays from airports， for example， something that has been common in Africa.”