Guinea
Spotlight 9
1. Interview
Mohamed Kobélé Keita
Director General, Civil Aviation Authority of Guinea (AGAC)
”The Republic of Guinea is resolutely committed to making every effort to have market-friendly routes and competitive fares for the development of its aviation potential with the support of AFCAC”
1) What have been your achievements in CAA and aviation in your country in 2022 ?
As of 2022, safety and security resilience mechanisms have been strengthened to help cushion the effects of COVID-19 in airport operations in Guinea. This has resulted in a 26% increase in air traffic at the AST International Airport.
In the same year, Guinea was audited by ICAO’s USAP-CMA to test its safety oversight mechanism in nine (9) activity areas that have significantly improved as a result of the reforms undertaken. The results communicated by the ICAO auditors indicate that Guinea’s score in the past fifteen (15) years has quintupled. This is because, among other things, the legislative and regulatory context, staff training, airport operations, passenger and hold baggage security have potentially been better structured and enhanced. These results were obtained against the background of the reform of public infrastructure and services in Guinea, since the transition to a new government, in September, 2021.
The new authorities intend to sustain the ongoing reforms in our ecosystem so as to enable stakeholders carry out their respective and constituent missions in boosting effective aviation safety and security oversight measures.
2) What are your challenges and how can AFCAC assist you?
Guinea’s current vision with respect to air transport, is to provide effective and sustainable solutions to the gaps identified in the USOAP-CMA audit and to provide Guinea with an effective and efficient oversight mechanism, hence the involvement of AFCAC is highly desirable, notably: through technical assistance in the implementation of the Corrective Action Plan; through training as well as consultative support in the implementation of the recommendations; through an objective assessment and update of airport safety and security measures.
It should be added however, that Guinea’s main preoccupation is to achieve long-term sustainability and develop its safety and security oversight capacity and ultimately, guarantee the continued development of its civil aviation sector. This justifies the many reforms in progress, and considering that timeliness is a non-negligible factor in aviation, AFCAC’s support is thus crucial.
3) Your commitment to SAATM: how are you going to proceed with the implementation?
Guinea is one of the pioneer States to have signed the commitment on the implementation of the Single African Air Transport Market. In line with this commitment and in view of AFCAC’s recommendations, Guinea has updated its Air Service Agreements, in order to align them with the provisions of the Yamoussoukro Decision. In this respect, several air service agreements signed with other African countries were reviewed during ICAN 2022, in order to accommodate the SAATM arrangement in the overall strategy for air transport development in Guinea.
Negotiations will be organised shortly with the airlines currently operating in Conakry, with a view to significantly engaging all the key stakeholders in the development process of air transport in Guinea. In my opinion, the SAATM approach is quite simple, i.e. it is either we get actively involved to become a ‘productive’ aviation industry, or we remain a ‘consumer’ aviation industry. Therefore, bearing in mind that Africa is a veritable touristic and trade hub and consequently, a major economic player in the 2030 horizon, it has become most imperative that we embark without further ado, on the SAATM journey.
4) What can you say about SAATM PIP?
It is important to highlight that Guinea participated in the launch of the Single African Air Transport Market Pilot Project (SAATM PIP) organised on the occasion of the 23rd Anniversary of the Yamoussoukro Decision, which was held in Dakar, Senegal, on 14 November, 2022. Guinea was again present at the panel discussion held in Addis Ababa in February, where it was represented by authorities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The SAATM should potentially be supported and accompanied by technical and financial partners, including ICAO and also, by the African States, which are considered to be potential the economic boosters in the upcoming decades.
2. Fact Sheet
3. 5th freedom routes
The renewal of air service agreements signed with other African countries, as well as the signing of new agreements with countries on the continent, systematically take into account the 5th freedom, which will naturally guarantee routes whose operation will not be subject to any form of restriction. Indeed, the increase in the number and use of 5th Freedom Routes will stimulate price competitiveness, boost tourism, facilitate economic integration and accelerate unemployment alleviation rate in Africa.
