Zimbabwe

1) What have been your achievements in CAA and aviation in your country in 2022 ?

I joined the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) as the Director General in August 2021. The Authority had gone for some years without substantive Director General hence a number of issues were lagging behind and required some urgent attention.

In terms of economic regulations my biggest achievement in 2022 was to clear all 8 SAATM implementation concrete measures which had remained outstanding for some time. The state of implementation of the eight (8) concrete measures by Zimbabwe had remained at 0% since the launch of SAATM in January 2018.  In October 2022 on the side-lines of the ICAO Assembly, the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development, Honourable Felix Tapiwa Mhona signed Memorandum of Implementation of the Yamoussoukro Decision which had remained outstanding since the signing of the Solemn Commitment in January 2018 by the then President of the Republic of Zimbabwe. In this regard the Government has fully embraced the Open Skies Policy.

In terms of aviation security, the Authority has influenced and facilitated the Government of Zimbabwe to successfully join the ICAO Public Key Directory (PKD) following the Key Import Ceremony held on 14 September 2022 in Montreal. This is a secure way to verify and authenticate electronic travel documents and Zimbabwe became one of the few African countries to join this initiative by ICAO.

In aviation Safety we are working tirelessly to clear ICAO audit findings from the Corrective Action Plan which followed the ICAO Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) held in 2019. The Authority is now scheduled for an ICAO Coordinated Validation Mission (ICVM) in June 2023 which with the work we have managed to do in 2022, we hope our compliance level is going to rise to global average.

Operationalisation of Aviation Training Academy of Zimbabwe (ATAZ) is one of my achievements together with my Board and team of management in 2022.

Among other things includes the successful completing of the separation of airport operations from the Authority (CAAZ) through the creation of the Airports Company of Zimbabwe (Private) Limited in line with international best practices. This will help in strengthening the regulatory framework and improve the level of compliance and ease the regulation mechanisms thereby enhancing safe and secure skies.

2) What are your challenges and how can AFCAC assist you?

Currently our main focus is to raise effective implementation score to global average levels. AFCAC has been helpful in this regard by sending a team of experts through the AFI-CIS scheme early in 2022 to help the Authority in the implementation of the agreed corrective action plan.

In 2022, Zimbabwe got support from AFCAC for a Licencing module. Zimbabwe is grateful for this generous support. However, the system is still at the procurement stage. We implore AFCAC to speed up the processes so that the system is installed and deployed as soon as possible.

Support is also sought for capacity building especially specialised and on job training for inspectors among other areas, and technical cooperation including fellowships. With the Aviation Training Academy of Zimbabwe being operational from early 2022, we are open to cooperation arrangement with other entities and other civil aviation authorities to help build the skills and expertise within the African continent.

3) Your commitment to SAATM: how are you going to proceed with the implementation?

Like I highlighted in my achievements above, we are fully committed to the full implementation of SAATM. The freely granting of 5^th freedom traffic rights by Zimbabwe to any African operator seeking it is a clear testimony of the Government of Zimbabwe’s total commitment to the open skies policy which is also in line with the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Dr Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa mantra that “Zimbabwe is Open for Business” and the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1) in relation to expanding air connectivity.

The Authority is engaging with the Government through the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development so that Zimbabwe also joins the SAATM PIP countries given that we are among those championing States on this project.

4) What can you say about SAATM PIP?

SAATM Pilot Implementation Project is a commendable idea. In as much as we believe that no one should be left behind, sometimes it is important to run with those that are ready and willing, then the success of those participating may possibly motivate those that were left behind by seeing the benefits.

I also urge AFCAC to continue with SAATM capacity building workshops as well as assisting Member States in having similar or same aviation specific Competition and Consumer protection regulations for seamless implementation of the YD.