A lack of political will by governments and politicians continues to hinder the implementation of the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM), says Airlines Association of Southern Africa (AASA) CEO, Aaron Munetsi.

SAATM, (an AU initiative aimed at creating a unified transport market to expand the economic and social benefits of aviation across the continent), has gained some ground but is still a way off from being operational since its inception in 2018.

Speaking at the AASA’s annual general assembly, Munetsi said that while SAATM had made some progress with 37 nations signed, there was a lack of political will to see it through.

“We are still seeing governments that are acting in a protectionist way. I ask myself, what are they protecting? Comatose airlines?”

While there is evidence to prove that SAATM will give airlines an opportunity to grow, this isn’t always recognised.

Munetsi said: “We have seen governments that are still not signing up because they are afraid that when they sign, their airlines will disappear.”

“Sadly, there is little evidence of sufficient political will - and that’s where it rests, with politicians,” he said.

Eric Ntagengerwa, Head of the Transport and Mobility Division at the African Union Commission said the only way airline growth and recovery could take place was through increased connectivity.

And while SAATM offered increased connectivity, he said more needed to be done to ensure it got off the ground.

“We make noise after signing, but after some time, signing is not enough”. He said politicians, including Ministers of Finance and Tourism needed to be brought on board, and procedures needed to be harmonised.

Andile Mtetwa-Amaeshi, VP for the SADC region at the African Civil Aviation Commission said the organisation had started to engage finance ministers to create awareness of why it was important.

“We talk about SAATM amongst ourselves but the people who are meant to enable it aren't here. They don’t know what that is. In the governments where there has been an understanding of SAATM, we are beginning to open up” she said, citing Angola, Mozambique and Namibia as examples.

Regional VP for Africa and the Middle East at IATA, Kamil Al-Awadhi, however said he believed that the continent first needed to solve the issues plaguing airlines and aviation, before looking to implement SAATM.

He said issues needed to be addressed one by one. “By the time you finish, SAATM falls into place”.

“People are celebrating that they’ve signed but that’s it. None of the issues have been addressed,” said Al-Awadhi.