Zim urged to turn SAATM policy into routes, jobs at Harare Airshow

HARARE - Zimbabwe has been urged to move "from commitment to measurable implementation" of the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) as government officials, regulators and aviation leaders gathered in Harare for the SAATM Pilot Implementation Project Airshow.

Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Felix Mhona said the event's theme - accelerating air transport liberalisation to improve continental connectivity and integration - was both timely and essential.

"The SAATM facilitates the seamless movement of people, goods, services and investment across the African continent, as we move towards the Africa we want by the year 2063," Mhona said.

He added that Zimbabwe was "currently reassessing all BASAs with SAATM member states to ensure they are in compliance with the Yamoussoukro Decision".

Mhona noted that intra‑African connectivity had risen from 14.5 percent in 2021 to 23 percent in 2025, reflecting growing momentum in regional aviation integration.

He said Zimbabwe had implemented all eight SAATM concrete measures since signing the Solemn Commitment in 2022, and reaffirmed its support for the Lomé Ministerial Declaration of June 2026, which calls for accelerated SAATM rollout.

On infrastructure, Mhona said government investments through Public‑Private Partnerships had upgraded Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport, Victoria Falls International Airport and Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport, with passenger capacity at RGM International rising from about two million to 6.5 million annually.

African Civil Aviation Commission Secretary‑General Adefunke Adeyemi said the Airshow was not merely an aviation gathering.

"It is a delivery platform. It is where policy must become routes, routes must become trade, and trade must become jobs," Adeyemi said.

She said the Lomé Declaration reaffirmed the Yamoussoukro Decision as the legal foundation for market liberalisation and SAATM as the practical framework for delivery.

Adeyemi said disciplined implementation could generate US$450 to US$700 million in GDP over five years, create 45,000 to 70,000 new jobs, and reduce intra‑African fares by 15 to 27 percent.

"That is the opportunity before us. And, frankly, that is also the cost of delay," she said.

Adeyemi proposed six immediate actions for Zimbabwe, including establishing a national SAATM Implementation Task Force and expediting facilitation reforms such as e‑visa systems, API/PNR readiness and risk‑based border clearance.

"The African sky must no longer divide our economies. It must unite them, empower them and support our shared prosperity," she said, reinforcing continental aviation integration efforts under African air transport liberalisation.