Equatorial Guinea

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

From the end of 2019 to mid-2022, aviation activity was extremely low, with 2022 identified as the year of aviation recovery following the mitigation of the COVID-19 pandemic.

From that date, COVID-19 was declared over in Equatorial Guinea.

In 2019, the Equatorial Guinea Civil Aviation Authority signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ICAO for the conduct of the USAP-CMA audit, which was postponed as a result of the pandemic, until its second signature in 2022.

Preparatory work for the audit included the drafting and updating of documents and their subsequent approval, the certification of Special Aviation Security Corps and AVSEC personnel, and the monitoring of operators’ implementation of ICAO civil aviation security standards and recommended practices.

The audit, which unfortunately did not take place until the end of March 2023, revealed major security issues with non-passenger access control and an implementation rate of 45.15%. This percentage needs to be further improved at the earliest opportunity through work on the PAC and by addressing the issues at the root of this major security concern.

The same year also coincided with the ICAO A41 Assembly, at which Equatorial Guinea presented itself for re-election to the Council on the basis of COVD-19, as it had been unable to implement the proposed action plans.

At this Assembly, Equatorial Guinea was the first country to endorse the ICAO ACT-FAL programme in the presence of the Secretary General.

In the same vein, Malabo International Airport inaugurated its new terminal, which is designed to meet all international standards.

The Equatorial Guinea Civil Aviation Authority, through its government, is working on the continuous improvement of the sector, with particular attention to full compliance with ICAO SARPS, training and upgrading of human resources, operationalisation and certification of national airports to guarantee the tourist attraction of the country, the government’s objective with the creation and implementation of the online visa. The said online visa was launched and made available to applicants on 15 June 2023.

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

There are so many challenges that we can only mention three for now:

1 – Removal of Equatorial Guinea from the European Union blacklist. This objective is linked to a number of specific actions to be undertaken, ranging from the training and certification of human resources to the recruitment of experts in various fields of operational safety in order to acquire the necessary skills for both operational and industrial certifications.

2 – Certification of at least Malabo International Airport

3 – Eliminating the major security risk that was the subject of the last USAP-CMA audit.

These three challenges, which I consider to be very important, are the ones that we would like to bring to the attention of the AFCAC in order to support Equatorial Guinea. It will involve the financing of certain training courses considered to be the most urgent for our operational safety certification inspectors: OPS; AIR; PEL.

I would also like to take part in the certification of the airport in Malabo, if such is possible.

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

Since the signing of the SAATM by Equatorial Guinea in 2018, the State has embarked on a process of revision of certain texts affected by this new initiative. We are currently revising the BASAs with the other African states, and this will continue until we are in line with the principles and provisions of the SAATM. All ongoing negotiations under the new BASAs are also in line with the principles of the SAATM.

We are also working to reduce taxes and eliminate or mitigate tariff barriers and technical obstacles and policies that block the effectiveness of the SAATM. We are therefore aware of the need to establish a safer, more economical, efficient and environmentally friendly air transport system, in line with the government’s policy to open up the country both internally and externally, and to facilitate tourism and trade, as part of the economic diversification highlighted in Equatorial Guinea’s Agenda 2035.We are also working on lowering taxes and eliminating or mitigating the tariff barriers and technical and political obstacles that are blocking the effective implementation of the SAATM.

4) What can you say about SAATM PIP?

We believe that SAATM-PIP is a necessary tool that will help us in the effective implementation of the YD and SAATM. Its launch in November 2022 is a step in the right direction for the sustainable development of air transport in Africa in general, and more specifically for the full liberalisation of the sector and the acceleration of air connectivity in Africa, as the SAATM-PIP will facilitate the implementation and control of actions taken in the framework of the effective implementation of SAATM. What’s more, it will allow us to know where we stand and to monitor the measures taken in the short and medium term, so that we can take the appropriate measures at the right time when the SAATM is implemented. Equatorial Guinea therefore fully supports the launch of the SAATM-PIP.