Making African-Caribbean airbridge a reality

During the 21st annual Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Symposium at the Hilton Trinidad on July 31, Caribbean Airlines Ltd (CAL) officials received a royal tongue-lashing as they tried to explain to local businesses and the Ghanaian delegation accompanying Asante King Otumfuo Osei Tutu II why there is no direct air route from the Caribbean to African states.

CAL, which is owned and subsidised by TT taxpayers, was clearly stunned at being saddled with the responsibility for establishing the African-Caribbean (AfriCari) airbridge.

On the contrary, the buck stops with the governments of Caricom and African states, which must create a suitable and sustainable environment to generate the demand for air travel on both sides of the Atlantic to make the AfriCari airbridge economically viable.

Should CAL rise to the challenge, someone has to bear the cost of the route development, which will run into millions of US dollars.

Direct air links between the African continent and the Caribbean have been discussed for decades at various forums, without any positive action to make it a reality.

At an International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) air transport meeting in Ghana in March 2017, a special side meeting was convened on promoting tourism and air links between African States and the Caribbean diaspora.

Participants underscored the need to celebrate and preserve the shared heritage between Africa and people of African descent in the diaspora.

A follow-up ICAO air transport meeting was held in Guyana in November 2018 and attended by several African states. The delegates – including the Ghanaian Minister of Aviation, Joseph Kofi Adda – lamented the inaction on the outstanding matter of the AfriCari airbridge and clamoured for immediate action, saying “Now is the time.”

Almost five years later, the status quo remains unchanged.

During her keynote address at the launch of the first ever AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum (ACTIF) in September 2022, host Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados called for direct air links between the Caribbean and Africa, saying the two regions “have business to do,” and underscored the urgent need for connecting the two through an airbridge.

Air links are vital for connecting Caricom and African states to regional and global markets, facilitating economic growth through trade, tourism and culture. This will be the catalyst for generating a sustainable demand for business and tourist travel between Africa and the Caribbean, in alignment with the objectives of the Africa-Caribbean Trade and Investment Forum.

The large African diaspora in the Caricom region presents tremendous opportunities for tourism.

The Caribbean, with its year-round warm weather, beautiful beaches and watersports, has for decades been a major tourist destination for European and North American tourists.

Direct air links with Africa will expand the Caribbean tourism market to include upper- and middle-class tourists from the African continent who currently head to Dubai, contributing billions of dollars to the UAE tourism economy.

Likewise, the AfriCari airbridge will provide opportunities for Caribbean people – particularly from the African diaspora – to visit the ancestral homeland on "back to roots" pilgrimages.

With its vast natural resources, Africa is poised to become a major world economic powerhouse. Its manufacturing sector is rapidly expanding, especially with hi-tech goods which can easily compete in the Caribbean markets with goods from China and India.

Similarly, manufacturing in the Caribbean is on the upswing and Africa can be an attractive export market.

As an incentive for airlines to operate the AfriCari airbridge, governments should shed their reticence and put their words into positive action by inking a historical "open-skies" air-services agreement between Caricom and the African Union.

At present, the travel time from Africa to the Caribbean is very long – approximately 36 hours. Delegates from Africa attending the first ACTIF in Barbados in September 2022 complained about this ordeal.

A direct flight from Senegal to Barbados will take approximately seven hours by jet.

Barbados has risen to the clarion call and is assiduously working with a team of tourism, trade and aviation experts to operationalise the AfriCari airbridge led by Dr Wallace Williams, a renowned diplomat and business entrepreneur based in the African continent.

Dr Williams has an aviation background and spearheaded the bilateral air service agreements between Nigeria and two Caricom States; TT and Antigua and Barbuda.

The inaugural flight is likely to happen in time for the second ACTIF, which will be hosted by Guyana on October 30 and 31.

African delegates can travel on a direct flight to Barbados, with an onward connection to Guyana. This will significantly reduce travel time and costs

The AfriCari airbridge will consist of a network of routes using existing airlines in both Africa and the Caribbean. The network will consist of two major hubs: Barbados and one in the sub-Sahara, strategically located at Johannesburg, South Africa.

Out of each hub, existing regional airlines will provide feeder services to other destinations within each region.

Barbados is soon to invest US$147 million to upgrade its international airport.

On August 4, the African Export-Import Bank opened the bank’s Caricom office in Barbados.

According to Mottley, “The only thing that stops us from having direct air links between Africa and the Caribbean is the will of those of us who continue not to recognise the importance of unlocking 1.4 billion people who have a common ancestry to be able to work with each other.”

The African and Caribbean leaders’ vision of an AfriCari airbridge must be matched with the political will to make it a reality.

Now is the time.