The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and the South African Civil Aviation Authority have successfully reached a significant agreement to establish unified civil aviation regulation throughout Africa. This groundbreaking deal was signed during the African Aviation Summit held in Abuja, Nigeria, on Thursday.
Notably, this agreement enables the aviation regulators of Nigeria and South Africa to exchange safety and security best practises, ensuring mutual benefits for both countries.
Additionally, it will facilitate seamless flight arrangements by harmonising regulations between the two nations.
The NCAA Director-General, Capt. Musa Nuhu, signed on behalf of Nigeria, while Poppy Khoza, Director of SACAA, signed on behalf of South Africa.
Further reports show that the ministers of both countries witnessed the signing ceremony.
According to Nuhu, the agreement will improve flight operations between the two countries to the point where they are comparable to domestic flights.
He also stated that a single regulatory regime in Africa as a whole would open up opportunities in aviation to accelerate the implementation of the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) project.
He stated that SAATM was established in January 2018 to give new impetus to the goal of liberalising African air transport in order to fully implement the Yamoussoukro Decision.
SAATM, according to Musa, is expected to generate 508,750 direct jobs and have a 4.2 billion dollar impact on African GDP in the long run.
“We will remove all the barriers and obstacles to operations between both countries. Going forward, we hope other countries will join us to see the successful implementation of SAATM.
“This is the first step of a long journey,” he said.
Also speaking, Khoza stated that the move was a positive step towards strengthening the relationship between the two technical agencies.
According to her, the agreement will help the two countries and the African continent improve their safety and security postures.
She stated that if safety and security are not prioritised, there will be no thriving and sustainable aviation in Africa.
“This is a technical cooperation agreement that is very technical in nature. We will be exchanging information on aviation safety and security in particular.
” The Minister of Nigeria has indicated that one of his plans is to ensure that he upholds the highest-level standards of aviation security.
“It is the same plan for my minister. Therefore, there are synergies between both ministers. So, we will be cooperating a lot. In fact, we are already cooperating,” she said.
Festus Keyamo, Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, expressed his delight at the agreement.
He expressed confidence that the two countries involved would greatly benefit from it.
“This is an exciting day for us. You can check this off as one of my deliverables under my first plan. We need to learn from one of the countries in Africa that is ahead of us in safety and security standards.
“South Africa is doing 92 percent in terms of ICAO standards, and Nigeria is doing 70 percent. By cooperating with SA, we are sure to close that gap and even exceed it.
“We will close the gap as soon as possible,” he enthused.
According to him, the relationship will be symbiotic in terms of guidance and assistance.