The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the New Partnership for Africa's Development Planning and Coordinating Agency (NEPAD) have forged a new agreement to enhance the contribution of civil aviation to the social and economic development of the African Continent, and to promote related aviation infrastructure development and capacity-building in aid of sustainable air transport for Africa and Africans.

"Working cooperatively is, and has always been, fundamental to the aviation sector," stressed ICAO Council President Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu. "This new framework with NEPAD will allow us to effectively address the development and modernization of quality aviation infrastructure in Africa, consistent with ICAO's global and Africa regional planning and commensurate with the exponential traffic growth forecast here."

The new ICAO/NEPAD Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will formalize and deepen the cooperation between these two organizations, contributing to the implementation of the Declaration and Framework for a Plan of Action for Development of Aviation Infrastructure in Africa, which was adopted at the fourth ICAO World Aviation Forum (Abuja, Nigeria in November 2017).

Both organizations will now be working more closely together in facilitating the movement of persons and goods in Africa, mobilizing resources for aviation infrastructure development, implementing NEPAD's "MoveAfrica" initiative for the aviation sector, developing e-commerce, and training and retaining next generation aviation professionals and promoting gender equity on the continent.

"This collaboration will provide added value for both organizations and improve aviation infrastructure development in Africa," said NEPAD CEO Dr. Ibrahim Mayaki. "It will help strengthen NEPAD's understanding of the aviation sector, and importantly help us to ensure the inclusion of aviation projects in the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA)."

Contributed by ICAO