RwandAir to Lead Intra Africa Connectivity, Promote Tourism, Trade
2 min readL-R: Ms. Yvonne Manzi Makolo, Chief Executive, RwandAir, Mr. Abdérahmane Berthé, Secretary General, African Airlines Association (AFRAA)
RwandAir has appealed to the African Airlines Association, AFRAA, to intervene in some teething challenges such as the enhancement of its revenue, the inability to repatriate ticket sales proceeds from some African countries, high taxes, and other exorbitant charges that hindered access to some African markets.
The issues enumerated above were the kernel of the discussion at the second “AFRAA Member Airline CEOs Leadership Dialogue”, hosted by the airline in Kigali, Rwanda.
RwandAir Chief Executive Officer, Ms. Yvonne Manzi Makolo, and the airline’s leadership said the vision of RwandAir’s management is to reposition “RwandAir to be at the forefront of African aviation” in promoting trade and commerce within the continent and between Africa and other continents of the world.
Manzi Makolo also said the airline was pushing so had to be able “to support the growth and evolution of the African travel and tourism sector” by providing connectivity to countries in the continent.
She said by leveraging on the Single Africa Air Travel Market, SAATM, and the treaty of the African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA, if diligently executed, “will help drive economic development throughout the continent.”
The outcome from the sincere execution of those two treaties, SAATM and AFCFTA, she noted had the potential to return social and economic prosperity to Africa and begin to induce trade balance and even trade surplus for African nations against their trading partners from Europe, US, Asia, and even the Middle East.
According to the Secretary-General of, the African Airlines Association, AFRAA, Mr. Abdérahmane Berthé, the dialogue provided “a unique opportunity to reflect and exchange ideas”.
The media statement by AFRAA said highlights of the Dialogues were RwandAir’s vision and strategy, the opportunities for value addition through AFRAA joint projects and initiatives for enhancement of revenues”
Berthé, further said of the dialogue, “I am delighted for the opportunity to dialogue with RwandAir. The platform has facilitated sharing views on key areas that will be followed up in the AFRAA action plan. I look forward to continued collaboration between RwandAir and the Association, which is essential in fulfilling AFRAA’s mandate.”
However, Manzi Makolo expressed optimism about RwanAir hosting the 2024 Aviation Stakeholders Convention in Kigali.
According to the media statement, “the Convention is one of Africa’s leading air transport industry events by AFRAA that brings together over 500 delegates from across the globe to foster dialogue for win-win business relationships, build sustainable networks and create a competitive environment to improve the aviation business support base in Africa”.
The 3rd March session marked the second edition of the AFRAA CEO Dialogues for 2023. The CEO Dialogues initiative is a drive-by AFRAA to create close engagement with member airlines and a space for dialogue necessary to develop transformative initiatives.