The Minister of state for transport, Hon. Jean de Dieu Uwihanganye is in Nigeria, Abuja, and has on behalf of the Government of Rwanda concluded the negotiation and signing of the Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASAs) with Cape Verde.
The Minister of state for transport, Hon. Jean de Dieu Uwihanganye is in Nigeria, Abuja, and has on behalf of the Government of Rwanda concluded the negotiation and signing of the Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASAs) with Cape Verde.
The signing took place on the sidelines of the 3rd Annual International Civil Aviation Organization World Aviation Forum 2017 taking place in the city of Abuja. The three days’ event stated from 20th to 22nd November 2017 is gathered under the theme “Financing the Development of Aviation Infrastructure.”
“The Bilateral Air Service Agreement with Cape Verde is expected to open more potential market opportunities for RwandAir and Rwanda’s private sector providing more economic momentum to the Rwandan and African economies,” said the State Minister.
At the same event he also negotiated the BASA with the Republic of Nigeria which is expected to be signed in Kigali in a few weeks. Through this agreement, Nigeria would be granting Abuja as the second entry point for RwandAir after Lagos. Abuja is expected to be opened in January 2018.
The Government of Rwanda already has 60 BASAs in place. There are 24 bilateral agreements with African states and the rest are with countries outside the continent. The move has been a deliberate, consistent and strategic effort by the Government of Rwanda to increase air connectivity and deepen trade in Africa and beyond.
During the 3rd ICAO World Aviation Forum 2017, the ICAO Council President Dr. Olumuyiwa Bernard Aliu congratulated the Government of Rwanda on the good performance by Rwanda’s aviation compliance implementation of standards and recommended practices according to the 2017 ICAO Universal Safety Oversight Audit Program (USOAP) showed Rwanda scored 71.93 percent. This was a tremendous improvement compared to previous audits where Rwanda scored 21.13 in 2007 and 44.29 percent in 2012.
The audit is done on 8 critical areas that ensure the safe and secure operations of the aviation industry.
In Recognition of the major improvements and performance in Rwanda’s aviation sector, the ICAO president also accepted to personally come to Rwanda and hand an ICAO certificate to H.E Paul Kagame.
The Government of Rwanda has earmarked aviation as a huge bearing to the economy and dedicated huge investments, the upgrade of the overall capacities of Kigali international Airport, the ongoing construction of the New Bugesera International Airport as well as the upgrade of upcountry airports like Kamembe and Gisenyi.
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