Open Skies for Africa

Implementing the Yamoussoukro Decision

Charles E Schlumberger

• Publisher: World Bank Publications
• Year: 2010
• Topic: Business
• eBook ISBN:
  9780821382066
• Subtopic: Transportation Industry
• Index: Business

In Africa, where poor roads, ports, and railways often constrain efficient transportation, air transport holds great potential as a lever for economic growth and development. Yet Africa has suffered several decades of inefficient air services. Uncompetitive flag carriers, set up by newly independent African states, offered primarily intercontinental flights, while the domestic air service market remained underdeveloped and underserved. The 1999 pan-African treaty on liberalization of access to air transport markets, the Yamoussoukro Decision, attempted to address these shortcomings. Yet a decade later, only partial liberalization has been achieved. 'Open Skies for Africa: Implementing the Yamoussoukro Decision' reviews progress made in carrying out the treaty and suggests ways in which the liberalization process can be encouraged. The book analyzes the completed and still-pending steps toward implementation of the Yamoussoukro Decision, both on a pan-African level and within various regions. Special focus is given to the challenges posed by the poor aviation safety and security standards that exist in most African countries. Finally, the book measures the impact that certain policy steps of the Yamoussoukro Decision have had and evaluates the economic significance of air transportation and its full liberalization in Africa. The book concludes that the process of liberalizing African air services must continue, and provides policy recommendations for the way forward.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author
• Abbreviations
• Chapter 1 Introduction
• Chapter 2 Elements and Entry into Force of the Yamoussoukro Decision
• Chapter 3 Status Quo of the Implementation of the Yamoussoukro Decision
• Chapter 4 Regional Implementation of the Yamoussoukro Decision
• Chapter 5 Impact of Liberalization
• Chapter 6 Economic Aspects of Liberalizing Air Services in Africa
• Chapter 7 Conclusions and Policy Recommendations
• Appendix A Ethiopian Air Service Agreements with Other African States
• Appendix B African Country Overview of Air Transport and the Yamoussoukro Decision
• Appendix C Safety Review and Rating of African States
• Appendix D Aviation Laws and Regulations Adopted and Enacted by the West African Economic and Monetary Union
• References
• Index
• Boxes
• Tables