The honorable General Edward Katumba Wamalam, Uganda’s Minister of Works and Transport has pledged that Uganda would announce its accession to SAATM in due course.
The implementation of the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) is currently one of the main topics of discussion in the aviation industry across the continent.
As expected, it featured prominently in several speeches during the 55th Annual General Assembly of the African Airlines Association (AFRAA), held from November 19th to 21st, 2023, in Kampala, Uganda.
“SAATM is not a magic wand and needs supportive action in other areas before its full benefits can be realised. For instance, we cannot hope to make headway without opening our borders so that citizens can travel unimpeded. Without opening borders, we are putting the proverbial cart before the horse, and the benefits will indeed be limited.”
To date, 34 countries have signed up to the SAATM: Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo Brazzaville, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea (Bissau), Guinée, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Sénégal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tchad, Togo, Zimbabwe.