South Africa has agreed to sell the federal government’s majority stake in the cash-strapped national airlines, the South African Airways (SAA), to a consortium that includes a local private equity firm and a jet leasing company.

South Africa has agreed to sell the federal government’s majority stake in the cash-strapped national airlines, the South African Airways (SAA), to a consortium that includes a local private equity firm and a jet leasing company, the country’s public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan informed on Friday. The SAA, the second-largest airline in the entire continent, was grounded in December last year and had since been a drain on state finances, news agencies reported.

The SAA, despite being one of the largest airlines in Africa — second only to the Ethiopian Airlines — had not turned in a profit since 2011. It was placed under a state-approved rescue plan in December 2019 to save it from collapse, AFP reported, adding that the airline was one of the many symbols of “the mismanagement of state-owned enterprises” that characterised ex-South African president Jacob Zuma’s regime. The airlines was having a hard time surviving even way before the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, only managing to survive on state bailouts.

“Having evaluated the current environment, the government has agreed to the (strategic equity partner) owning of 51% of the shareholding and government 49%,” South Africa’s public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan said in an online media conference.

The consortium to which South Africa is selling its national airlines comprises of private-equity firm Harith General Partners, an investor in African infrastructure and airports, and Johannesburg-based airline management and leasing firm Global Airways, which owns the recently launched domestic budget airline LIFT. The consortium will own the majority 51% share while the government will retain the minority 49% stakes in the shareholding, the minister informed, adding that the new SAA will not be “dependent” on the government.

Source: Aviation Pros

The Kenya Society in the UK has said the lifting of the ban on UK flights by Nairobi is not enough.

Instead, the society maintains Kenya should be removed from the UK red list and a roadmap put in place to upgrade it to amber and green status.

In a letter seen by the Star by chairman Patrick Orr to UK High Commissioner Jane Marriott, the Kenya Society asks the envoy to urge the British government to conduct an immediate review of Kenya’s red listing status.

“The current measures are negatively impacting on UK-Kenya relations and most of those canvassed feel there is already long-term damage. This is exacerbated by the circulation of data analysis among members calling into question just how significant the number of variant positive UK arrivals were from Kenya around the time when the original decision was taken,” Orr writes.

Kenya on Friday lifted the travel ban and Covid-19 restrictions for passengers and crew from the UK.  The UK is, however, yet to remove Kenya from the red list.

A British High Commission spokesperson said the red list is kept under constant review and they will not hesitate to act when needed.

“We do not provide a running commentary on whether specific countries may be removed or added to the red list,” she said.  

The Kenya Society says although the damage has been done, some people feel there is an opportunity for the relationship to be restored through prompt action by the UK government.

“50 per cent of those surveyed are experiencing a negative impact on business. The majority of these (67 per cent) are projecting revenue loss greater than 40 per cent year-on-year for FY21/22. This is having further impacts on conservation and environmental efforts. Most people in our survey are also experiencing a high human cost from this measure,” the letter reads in part.

The leading issues cited are poor mental health, breaking up of family nuclei and disruption to education.

The society says there is a clear sense coming through that the measures taken against Kenya are disproportionate.

“We look forward to your support for positive action by the UK to remove Kenya from the red list and resume the strong strategic partnership between our two countries,” Orr writes.

The UK on April 2 announced that Kenyans or anybody transiting through Kenyan airports was banned from setting foot in the UK starting April 9 citing the South African virus variant.

Kenya responded in kind and placed strict conditions for UK nationals travelling to Kenya.

To deescalate the situation, Kenya and the UK agreed to establish a joint emergency committee to address Covid-19 emergency travel restrictions following talks by Foreign Affairs CS Raychelle Omamo and UK counterpart Dominic Raab.

The committee first met on April 15 and was co-chaired by Foreign Affairs PS Macharia Kamau and Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office Africa Director Irfan Siddiq.

It agreed to form technical groups to address the issues and report back to the main committee “in the next few days”. No progress has been made public since.

The British High Commission spokesperson told the Star the Committee agreed to form technical groups to address the issues and “we continue to engage on the thematic issues on a regular basis”.

A review conducted by Levanter Africa on behalf of the Kenya Society says the rationale for Kenya being on the UK red list doesn’t match the Covid-19 evidence.

“The UK, unfortunately, has struggled more with controlling and managing the effects of the pandemic, but most countries have not imposed travel bans and restrictions for the respect of mutual respect and relations,” the report says.

In its review, Levanter Africa says data from March 26 to 7 April shows of the 1,161 arrivals into England, only 29 tested positives for Covid-19 (2.5 per cent) and not one variant was detected.

“In the two weeks following Kenya’s addition to the red list, of the 694 arrivals, only nine tested positive (1.3 per cent) with, again, zero variants detected. This clearly shows that the “increased risk of importation of variants” was exaggerated and scientifically flawed,” Levanter Africa says.

It further says the lack of subsequent action from the UK indicates the continuation of Kenya sitting on the red list is “exceedingly politically biased”, particularly when compared to countries on the UK’s amber and green lists with far worse Covid rates than Kenya.

Source: The Star

Emirates is ramping up its schedules as demand rebounds. The Dubai-based giant will deploy 30 of its Airbus A380s and fly to 124 destinations in July. Europe and North America will see a flurry of resumed routes as they quickly reopen to tourists. Let’s find out more about Emirates’ A380 deployment.

Rising

In a statement today, Emirates announced that will deploy 30 of its Airbus A380s to meet the growing travel demand this summer. The planes will serve 15 destinations, down from 18 previously planned, with 129 weekly frequencies. Passengers can fly the superjumbo on routes as short as two hours to 15 hours, depending on their destinations.

Emirates President Sir Tim Clark recently revealed that the airline is currently flying 15 to 20 of its A380s every week. This means July will see the number of Emirates superjumbos sky almost double as tourists look to fly once again.

In total, Emirates operates a fleet of 118 Airbus A380-800s. This means only 25% of the superjumbos will be returning more than a year after COVID-19 first decimated international travel. However, considering Emirates had zero A380s flying in the spring of 2020, this summer marks a sharp and substantial recovery.

Major destinations

Emirates will be deploying the A380 to the following destinations:

• North America: New York JFK, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and Toronto.
• Europe: London Heathrow, Manchester, Frankfurt, Munich, Moscow, Paris, and Vienna.
• Middle East: Amman, Cairo, Jeddah.
• Asia-Pacific: Guangzhou

Back in March, Emirates filed plans to fly the superjumbo to 18 cities this summer. Since then, Morocco, Mumbai, Johannesburg, Beijing, and Shanghai and have been dropped. While the latter two have likely been dropped due to China’s strict entry restrictions, Mumbai and Johannesburg are both considered high-risk regions due to new virus variants. Instead, the carrier has added Frankfurt and Vienna due to stronger demand.

Countries preparing

In total, Emirates will operate flights to 124 destinations starting this July, which represents almost 90% of its pre-pandemic network. The airline has been launching new routes as well, the most recent one being to Miami. However, capacity deployment remains closely linked to travel restrictions imposed by countries.

The European Union has begun easing travel restrictions for passengers from much of the world, allowing traffic to quickly return. Countries like Spain, Greece, Italy, and Austria are all hoping for a strong summer recovery as vaccinations quickly roll out in parts of the world.

For Emirates, the summer of 2021 will likely mark a turning point after a difficult year. The carrier reported a record $5.5 billion loss as the pandemic decimated business last year. While 2021 continues to see fewer passengers, hopefully, the worst for the airline is over.

Source: Simple Flying

Kenya has moved to safeguard its tourism sector from further hits by lifting a ban on passenger flights between Nairobi and London ahead of the peak Summer season.

In a surprise move, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday announced the resumption of flights to the UK after nearly a three-month hiatus. This came barely a week after the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) extended the ban for a second time to August 24.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kenya presents its compliments to the British High Commission and has the honour to convey the decision … to lift all flights restrictions between Kenya and the United Kingdom,” read the letter.

The arrivals from the UK to Kenya, will, however, be required to self-isolate for seven days and must have a valid Covid-19 negative certificate conducted within 96 hours before travel.

“All passengers irrespective of nationality and residency status coming to Kenya from the United Kingdom, irrespective of their route of travel to Kenya, shall be required to self-isolate upon arrival and take a subsequent test for four days after arrival,” the letter added.

Kenya banned flights from the UK, effective April 9 in retaliation to a move by the UK to add the country to its travel ‘Red List’. The initial freeze on flights on the route was to expire on May 5 but was extended to June 6.

The decision by Kenya to restore these flights comes as a boost to Kenya Airways and the hospitality ahead of the main tourism season.

Kenya’s tourism season traditionally peaks from July to September, coinciding with the country’s dry season and the world-renowned migration of wildebeest and zebra through Maasai Mara Game Reserve.

The UK has been a top tourism source market for Kenya.

In 2019, the UK emerged fourth in ranking, tourists who visited having hit 181,484.

The tourism sector in Kenya is thirsty for revival after suffering the worst hits by the economic fallout of Covid-19 that curtailed movement.

Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) showed that international arrivals dropped from 1.54 million in 2019 to 439,447 in 2020 after the government banned all local and international flights in March, resulting in low tourist traffic at hotels and animal parks.

The Ministry of Tourism announced that Kenya would lose up to Sh80 billion from tourism last year after an impressive performance in 2019 where the sector earned Sh163.6 billion, a 3.9 percent rise from Sh157.4 billion in 2018.

The Treasury has marked tourism among its priority sectors to drive the revival of the economy—a position that may have informed the decision to restore flights between London and Nairobi.

In his 2021/2022 budget, Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani handed Sh2.3 billion to the tourism sector to help it recover from an economic fallout caused by the coronavirus.

He allocated Sh1.7 billion to the Tourism Fund and Sh643 million to the Tourism Promotion Fund to help lift the sector battered by the effects of the pandemic.

Apart from hitting tourism and air travel, the travel blockades had raised concerns over negative effects on trade and bilateral ties such as military co-operation between the two countries.

Kenya is engaged in talks for a critical new bilateral trade deal with the UK post-Brexit, hoping to cushion its economy after partner States of the East African Community (EAC) failed to conclude an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the EU. Only Kenya signed and ratified the deal.

Until the end of the Brexit transition period, Kenya enjoyed duty-free and quota-free access to the UK’s markets through the EU’s Market Access Regulation (MAR). As the UK did not replicate the MAR at the end of the transition period, Kenya would have faced an increase in tariffs without a trade agreement or other measures in place.

Source: Business Daily

Expo 2020 Dubai chief says Africa represents the future – not just for Africans, but for the entire world

For the first time in the 170-year history of World Expos, every African nation will participate with its own pavilion at the Dubai edition, which opens in October.

Expo 2020 Dubai will showcase the continent’s vast potential – including its innovations, business opportunities and incredible art, culture, heritage and natural beauty.

For six months from October 1, more than 190 participating nations, including every country in Africa, will gather in the UAE to broaden horizons and exchange ideas that inspire action to tackle real-life challenges and spur positive change.

Expo 2020 is expected to open up new markets, offering an unrivalled opportunity for African countries to reach an international audience, seek investments and forge new partnerships that will reinvigorate their economies.

Africa’s participation at Expo 2020 is testament to the long-standing friendship between the UAE and Africa, a statement said.

Africa’s population of more than 1.3 billion is predicted to double by the middle of this century, potentially rising to four billion people by 2100.

How the continent embraces its accomplishments and overcomes its challenges – from the global health pandemic to climate change, sustainable food supplies, and equal access to the basic human rights of education, digitalisation and healthcare – will have enormous implications in the continent and beyond.

Reem Al Hashimy (pictured above), UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation and director general, Expo 2020 Dubai, said: “Africa is the future – not just for Africans, but for the entire world. The youngest, fastest-growing continent on the planet is brimming with promise, and the global community has a shared responsibility to ensure it grasps that opportunity for the good of us all.

“Huge strides have been made since the Organisation of African Unity was founded in 1963, and we will continue that momentum at Expo 2020, where Africa and everything it has to offer will be accessible to the world in new and unexpected ways – encouraging connections, boosting collaborations and helping drive widespread progress and prosperity.”

Visitors to Expo will be able to taste Ethiopia’s next big super-grain and chocolate from Ivory Coast, invest in Kenya’s croton nuts energy and explore Gabon’s space ambitions.

They will witness Rwanda’s remarkable transformation into a tech-centric hub and model of African progress, discover how Ylang Ylang drives the perfume industry in the Comoros, and how Seychelles’ pioneering blue bond has set the agenda for creative ways to safeguard our oceans.

In another first, the African Union will host a pavilion at Expo 2020 – a colourful arena devoid of national borders that will highlight the continent’s vast potential and ambitions, reflected in its Agenda 2063 aspirations that address agriculture, transport, science and technology, and health.

Dr Levi Uche Madueke, Commissioner General of the African Union at Expo 2020 Dubai, said: “With our rich natural resources, ingenuity and youthful population, there are many potential areas for growth. Africa has a lot to offer. It is time for us to reach out to the world, for the world to understand us and see how they can collaborate with us. Expo provides the best platform for us to tell this story and promote a continent that is ready to move forward and a secure place to do business.”

Many African nations have already revealed glimpses of the exciting programming they will bring to Expo 2020.

Visitors to the Ethiopia pavilion will meet a replica of ‘Lucy’, the world’s oldest human fossil, while Nigeria will share its Afrobeat music and burgeoning ‘Nollywood’ film scene as it showcases the abundance of opportunities available in its agriculture, manufacturing, minerals, ICT, energy and creative industries.

Expo 2020’s subthemes of Opportunity, Mobility and Sustainability go to the heart of the future aspirations of Africa – ensuring jobs, education and healthcare for all, easy and equitable access to transport and ideas and balancing development with preserving the environment for future generations.

Expo Live also supports projects offering creative solutions to pressing challenges that impact people’s lives or help preserve the planet. The programme is providing funding, guidance and exposure to 140 grantees from 76 countries, including 36 grantees that are making a significant impact in Africa.

Source: Arabian Business

The ongoing Covid-19 vaccination has been lauded as a major step towards the resumption of activities in the travel and hospitality industry, which has borne the brunt of disruptions caused by pandemic.

Ahead of presentation of the 3.66 trillion shillings budget, PKF CEO Alpesh Vadher says some of the coronavirus containment measures such as the night curfew are hurting the hospitality industry and other sectors.

For the year ending June 30th government has undertaken several initiatives towards tourism recovery among them 500 million shillings for marketing, while two billion shillings was set aside to support renovation of facilities and the restructuring of business operations.

One billion shillings stimulus package was earmarked for engaging 5,500 community scouts under the Kenya Wildlife Service and another 1 billion shillings to support 160 community conservancies.

However, one year on, the biting effect of Covid-19 is still reverberating in the hospitality value chain.

Data from the Kenya Private Sector Alliance indicates that at least 3.1 million jobs in travel and tourism were affected in the year 2020 as hotels, bars and restaurants, tour operators, airlines, travel agents and their suppliers and support services recorded low business.

For taxi drivers, curio businesses among the several indirect dependents of the hospitality industry anxiety is rife with the looming threat of a fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Their expectation is that the proposed budget will make provisions for industry players to remain afloat.

However, for accounting expert Al Pesh Vadher, the ongoing vaccination exercise is key towards the resumption of activities in the hospitality industry.

He further proposed government to involve the private sector in covid -19 vaccine sourcing to hasten the intervention.

All eyes are focused on Ukur Yatani’s briefcase and its contents for the hospitality industry

Source: KBC

NAIROBI, KENYA – By any measure, the number of those being vaccinated against COVID-19 in Africa are running behind the rest of the world. Health experts warn that failure to inoculate the 1.3 billion people on the continent will have a huge impact on its health care systems and economies. 

More than a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, most African countries have vaccinated only a tiny fraction of their populations.

Nigeria, the most populous nation in Africa, has fully vaccinated just 0.1% of its citizens.

The Africa Center for Disease Control says three countries — Tanzania, Burundi, Eritrea — and the self-declared Sahrawi Republic have yet to receive any vaccines, while Burkina Faso has received 115,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine but has not yet administered a single jab.

Abdhalah Ziraba, an epidemiologist and the head of the health system at the African Population and Health Research Center in Nairobi, says the failure to inoculate is partly due to vaccine hesitancy among the population, and underdeveloped health care systems, especially in non-urban areas. 

“In Africa, most people live in rural areas. The health care system that should be the system to deliver the vaccines to the last person is not as elaborate as the population is distributed. So, people are far away from where they can get access to vaccines, and as a consequence, they are definitely left out, but they remain at risk of getting exposed to COVID-19,” Ziraba said.

Kenya has fully vaccinated just 13,000 people out of a population of 50 million, although about 1 million have received one dose of a vaccine. 

Davji Atellah, the secretary-general of the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists’ Union, calls for the government to allocate 1% of the country’s budget to purchase COVID-19 vaccines.

“Countries like Uganda, or here in Kenya, we can still see there are waves, there is a surge in infections. So, the ultimate way to get things back to normal is to vaccinate. That’s why we are asking the government, if our current budget is 3.6 trillion Kenya shillings. If 1%, that’s about 35 billion shillings ($324.4 million) is put into buying the vaccines for the Kenyans, then we may have hope to see the opening up.” Atellah said.

Kenya’s western region has been witnessing high rates of coronavirus infections in recent weeks, and officials have warned they may have to impose a new lockdown to curb transmissions. 

In neighboring Uganda, the government recently reintroduced a strict lockdown to fight an increase in infections. The lockdown includes the shutting down of schools and religious activities, and imposing travel bans within the country.

Ziraba said African countries’ failure to vaccinate their population will disrupt everyday life and will pose a problem to the rest of the world.

“It will be a cascade that will be very disruptive to the African countries’ economies and health care system. But the rest of the world will not sit pretty because while a big part of their population will be protected, they will not be comfortable knowing that there will be a new infection coming to their borders every now and then,” Ziraba said.

Overall, Africa has recorded about 5 million cases of COVID-19 and 133,000 deaths.

Source: VOA

The United States has downgraded Kenya’s travel advisory to Level Two, down from Level Four, adjusting travel guidance for vaccinated Americans in the process.

In a notice dated June 8, the US urged its citizens to exercise increased caution in Kenya due to Covid-19, crime, terrorism, health issues, and kidnapping.

“The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a Level 2 Travel Health Notice for Kenya due to Covid-19, indicating a moderate level of Covid-19 in the country,” the notice states.

Under the Level 4 classification, Washington had urged its citizens not to travel to Kenya after the American Centers for Disease Control (CDC) raised alarm over a spike in Covid-19 cases.

The department warned Americans against traveling to the Kenya-Somalia border (Mandera, Garissa, and Wajir counties) and some coastal areas (Tana River, Lamu, and north of Malindi) due to terrorism.

“Terrorist attacks have occurred with little or no warning, targeting Kenyan and foreign government facilities, tourist locations, transportation hubs, hotels, resorts, markets/shopping malls, and places of worship.  Terrorist acts have included armed assaults, suicide operations, bomb/grenade attacks, and kidnappings.”

They are further required not to travel to areas of Turkana County (Road from Kainuk to Lodwar) due to banditry.

Americans were also asked to reconsider travel to the Nairobi neighborhoods of Eastleigh and Kibera at all times due to crime and kidnapping.

“Violent crime, such as armed carjacking, mugging, home invasion, and kidnapping, can occur at any time. Local police are willing but often lack the capability to respond effectively to serious criminal incidents and terrorist attacks.  Emergency medical and fire service is also limited,” it added.

The update comes as a huge relief to tourism stakeholders as it raises their hope for more international visitors this year, many of who had avoided travelling to Kenya since the onset of Covid-19 in the country last year.

Kenya Tourism Federation (KTF) chairperson Mohammed Hersi termed the downgrading of Kenya from Level four to Level two as a boost for the industry.

“Our hard work is certainly paying off. Happy to note that the USA has removed Kenya from Level 4 to Level 2 which is a good move for the travel and tourism trade. This is positive for the tourism business,” Hersi said through Twitter.

Source: Nairobi News

Nairobi says goodwill move taken in the mutual interest of the two East African countries.

Kenya on Thursday announced it will reopen its airspace for flights to and from Somalia, a move welcomed by Mogadishu.

Kenya’s Foreign Ministry said it has “taken due consideration of intercessions made and has decided to reopen Kenya’s airspace to all flights originating from Somalia and emanating from Kenya to Somalia”.

Nairobi halted all flights to and from Somalia in May, just days after an apparent thaw in relations that were strained since late last year.

The goodwill measure has been taken in the mutual interest of the two East African countries, the ministry said, adding that it hopes it will lead to full normalisation of relations, “including diplomatic, trade and people-to-people linkages that have undergone undue strain”.

The ministry clarified that all coronavirus protocols will be applicable for passengers coming to Kenya from Somalia.

The Somali government hailed Nairobi’s decision as a step that could smooth over relations between the two countries, which hit a low last December.

“The government of Somalia welcomes Kenya reopening its airspace with Somalia on Thursday. This move could pave the way for normalisation [of] the bilateral relations between the two neighbouring countries,” government spokesperson Mohamed Ibrahim Moalimuu said on Twitter.

Somalia cut off diplomatic ties with Kenya in December last year, accusing Nairobi of interfering in Mogadishu’s internal affairs.

Security, education and trade relations between the two neighbours were severed for some five months, until Mogadishu announced in May that it was ready to restore ties with Nairobi, citing the interest of both countries.

However, just days later, Kenya decided to halt air traffic with Somalia, without giving any reason for the move.

SOURCE: ANADOLU