The Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) is a transport market that provides eligibility criteria to create additional 300,000 jobs directly and two million jobs indirectly for people across Africa by 2063.
This has been emphasised at the on-going 33rd Session of the African Union Assembly, in which the in-coming chair of the African Union, South African president, Mr Cyril Ramaphosa has been elected for the current year, 2020.
“The SAAT also provides eligibility criteria for African community carriers, safety and security standards, mechanisms for fair competition and dispute settlemnent as well as consumer protection,” states the African Union.
The concept of a single air market came about in 1998, following the adoption of the Yamoussoukro Decision, which is hoped to lead to the establishment of a common aviation area and the death of bilateral air agreements between African countries.
Launched in 2018, SAAT further provides the African community carriers, safety and security standards, mechanisms for fair competition and dispute settlement as well as consumer protection.
The AU hopes that through SAAT will further see increased transport connectivity, and reduction of transport costs as a boost to African trade systems.
There are other achievements such as the Integrated High Speed Train Network, a flagship project of Agenda 2063, which seeks to connect all African capitals and commercial centres through an African High Speed Train Network, thereby facilitating the movement of goods, services and people.
The AU emphasised the GrandInga III Hydro power project, which is a flagship project of Agenda 2063, is expected to generate 43,200 megawatts of power to support current regional power pools and their combined service to ransform Africa from traditional to modern sources of energy.
The survival of Africans is threatened by water scarcity, which according to World Politics Review, has negatively affected such countries as Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, due to such factors as rural to urban reduction as well as decreasing water levels in dams found in such nations.
