South African national flag carrier South African Airways (SAA) has left a form of bankruptcy protection called a “business rescue” and was handed back to its executives.
After around 17 months of bankruptcy protection to address past sins, the once bloated airline is ready to get back to business after receiving R7.8 billion ($537.87 million) from the government.

After years of struggling to make a profit, South African Airways was placed under administration and ceased all operations in December 2019. In hindsight, it was probably the best thing as nobody knew what a devastating effect COVID-19 would have on the airline industry.

SAA is now solvent

A statement released by the administrators said that they had filed a notice of the implementation business rescue with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission stating that SAA was now solvent. South African Airways is just one of many South African companies that rely heavily on government bailouts. To make the airline more efficient, the business rescue practitioners cut almost 80% of the airline’s workforce and reduced its liabilities with creditors and lessors.

Despite being overstaffed and inefficiently run for years, the government of South Africa still feels the need to have a state-owned airline. A source in the ministry responsible for SAA, the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE), told news outlet Reuters that the government was in final negotiations with a preferred equity partner.

“A purchase and sale agreement should be concluded in the next few weeks. This will enable capital, and much-needed technical and commercial expertise, to be brought in to ensure a competitive flag carrier emerges,” said the department.

Ethiopian Airlines to the rescue

Everyone assumes that South African Airways knight in shining armor will be the continent’s most successful and best-run airline, Ethiopian Airlines. Late last year, the suggestion was that the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport (ADD)-based airline was prepared to offer aircraft and crew to help get SAA flying again. In exchange for this, the Ethiopian airline wanted an equity stake in the reborn airline. What Ethiopian did not want was to take on any debt or be burdened with employee union issues.

In February of this year, Simple Flying reported that progress on forming a partnership was not progressing as well as Ethiopian would have liked. When speaking about the lack of progress, Ethiopian Airlines CEO Tewolde Gebremariam said:

“We are still discussing, but I would say it has not made the expected progress.”

There is no surprise when you have a private company that wants to turn a profit and a government that wants to provide jobs and opportunities for its citizens.

In related news, South African Airways’ low-cost subsidiary Mango, had to briefly suspend flights earlier this week over the non-payment of airport fees. At the same time, SAA’s technical arm announced plans to cut its workforce significantly. Mango and SAA’s maintenance arm were not included in last year’s 10.5 billion rand ($725 million) bailout.

Why do we need SAA?

Why the South African government feels the need to have a national airline defeats logic. At the moment, SAA has three 16-year-old Airbus A319-100s, one Airbus A330-300s, and eight Airbus A340s that nobody wants. This means that SAA will have to acquire new aircraft, and planes cost money even if you are only leasing them. The private sector has already taken up the slack regarding domestic flights, and internationally South African’s and visitors have a host of carriers to choose from.

The funding that has gone into bailing out a failing business could have been put to much better use, and frankly, I am surprised that the South African public is not outraged over the bailouts given to SAA.

Source: Simply Flying

Uganda has detected one case of the latest Covid-19 variant believed to have originated from India.

The country’s Ministry of Health has urged citizens to now more than ever protect themselves from the virus.

In a statement via Twitter, the Ministry said, “The deadly Covid-19 variant from India has been detected in Uganda. This should be a wakeup call for all of us.”

Uganda has confirmed 41,797 coronavirus cases with 342 deaths since the country’s index case in 2020.

Meanwhile, India is in deep crisis, with hospitals and morgues overwhelmed by the upsurge of virus cases.

The country’s total cases passed 18 million on Thursday after another world record number of daily infections, as gravediggers worked around the clock to bury victims and hundreds more were cremated in makeshift pyres in parks and parking lots.

India reported 379,257 new infections and 3,645 new deaths on Thursday, health ministry data showed, the highest number of fatalities in a single day since the start of the pandemic.

Kenya suspended flights to and from India for two weeks on Wednesday.

Source: The Star

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Africa is “watching with total disbelief” as India struggles with a devastating resurgence in COVID-19 cases, the continent’s top public health official said Thursday, as African officials worry about delays in vaccine deliveries caused by India’s crisis.

The African continent, with roughly the same population as India and fragile health systems, “must be very, very prepared” since a similar scenario could happen here, John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters.

“What is happening in India cannot be ignored by our continent,” he said, and urged African countries to avoid mass gatherings including political rallies. “We do not have enough health care workers, we do not have enough oxygen,” he warned.

Africa’s vaccine supply heavily relies on India, whose Serum Institute is the source of the AstraZeneca vaccines distributed by the global COVAX project to get doses to low- and middle-income countries. India’s export ban on vaccines “has severely impacted the predictability of the rollout of vaccination programs and will continue to do so for the coming weeks and perhaps months,” Nkengasong said.

“We are living in a world that is extremely uncertain now,” he added.

Just 17 million vaccine doses have been administered across the African continent for a population of some 1.3 billion, according to the Africa CDC.

The situation in India is “very sad to observe,” the World Health Organization’s Africa chief told reporters in a separate briefing. “We are very concerned about the delays that are coming in the availability of vaccines,” Matshidiso Moeti added.

Her WHO colleague, Phionah Atuhebwe, called the delay “quite devastating for everybody” and said most African nations that received their first vaccine doses via COVAX will reach a “gap” in supply while waiting for second doses as early as May or June.

“We call upon countries that have extra doses to do their part,” Atuhebwe said, adding that the WHO is reviewing the Chinese-made Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines this week.

One unexpected COVID-19 vaccine donor is Congo, which Nkengasong said wants to give back some 1.3 million doses so they can be distributed to other African nations since it hasn’t been able to do it at home.

There is “a lot of vaccine hesitancy” in the vast country, Nkengasong said. He didn’t immediately know how many people have received the doses there.

There is a five-week timeline to get the doses administered elsewhere, he said, and Congo is working with COVAX to hand them over. He expressed hope that the doses can reach other people quickly during what he called “an extremely critical time.”

Nkengasong didn’t know of other African countries saying they’re unable to use their doses but he urged them not to wait until the last moment to hand them back. Other countries in Europe, North America and Asia “can have their luxury” of vaccine options, he said, but “we do not have choices.”

Moeti with the WHO commended Congo for its decision, calling it “extremely wise of the government to make this estimation” in a country with gaps in its health care system.

She also warned that African countries must step up key public health measures to help avoid India’s scenario occurring here. The rate of testing for the coronavirus has dropped in “quite a few countries,” she said, and mentioned seeing data from one African nation in which the proportion of people not wearing face masks has risen to almost 80%.

Only 43 million tests for the virus have been conducted across the African continent since the pandemic began, the Africa CDC chief said, with a 26% drop in new tests conducted in the past week.

Nkengasong warned against travel bans, however, after Kenya this week announced it will suspend all passenger flights to and from India for two weeks starting midnight Saturday, while cargo flights continue.

“It’s really unfortunate we are reacting in a very ad hoc manner in respect to flight movements,” he said, emphasizing the strength of authentic negative PCR tests. “It’s not people who are a threat, it’s the virus.”

Source: AP News

With the Expo now getting closer, many commentators are wondering if Dubai will be able to ensure that the event delivers on its previous successes in the midst of pandemic-induced un-certainties

World Expos are platforms for host countries to exhibit their cities and flaunt their culture to a global market while formulating indelible international relations. Following suit, Expo 2020 will be a spectacular happening that will allow Dubai to showcase its brilliance, innovations, break-throughs, and vast potential for a bright future, all to a global audience.

With the expo now getting closer, many commentators are wondering if Dubai will be able to ensure that the event delivers on its previous successes in the midst of pandemic-induced un-certainties.

Ephemeral event with long-lasting impact

Shanghai hosted the highest number of visitors in 2010, welcoming a record-breaking 73 million attendees. Infrastructure, such as subway lines, air terminals, railway stations and the general urban structure, was given a face lift with an expo investment of about $45 billion. Tourism also soared — 13 per cent during the Spring Festival alone, while residential property-leasing vacancy rates fell from 15 to eight per cent during the expo. Demand for hotel rooms shot up 39 per cent from the expo happening in 2010 to 2019, and the average daily rate also increased by 30 per cent.

Riverfront properties, which were stamped as an outdated shipyard pre-expo, caught the eye of foreign investors who redeveloped and converted them into profitable retail and commercial ventures.

When Milan hosted the Expo in 2015, the hospitality industry and commercial services witnessed a hike of 1.3 to 4.2 per cent throughout the year; €6 billion was injected through foreign direct investment within three months.

Similarly, Japan also hosted a successful Expo in 2005 with 22 million visitors, 880,000 of whom were foreigners.

Dubai continues to lead the pack

Dubai has taken major steps and introduced sweeping changes to consolidate its position as the most resilient, future-focused and proactive city on the global map.

Policies in Dubai are formulated to stimulate the economy and make businesses thrive. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, released a Dh1.5 billion economic stimulus package for businesses when the pandemic hit last year. Furthermore, the relief package aimed to reduce the living cost for the residents across properties and industrial arenas when the government rolled out a 10 per cent discount on water and electricity bills.

As part of the emirate’s unremitting pursuance towards supporting the business community, to weather the challenges posed by Covid-19, a Dh50 billion fund was put to play to ensure business continuity and stability.

According to economic reports released by the Central Bank of the UAE, the collective value of all capital and liquidity measures adopted by the authority since the 14th of March 2020 increased to Dh256 billion, including Dh50 billion in capital buffer relief, Dh50 billion in zero-cost funding support, and Dh95 billion in liquidity buffer relief. The central bank also projected a growth of 3.6 per cent for non-oil sectors.

Dubai has been strong in its preparations for Expo 2020 as growth and equilibriums as results of policy changes, technological implementation, and innovation in sustainability and infrastructure were widely noticed. The city anticipates a booming growth in sectors such as construction, tourism and hospitality, as well as looks to attract huge investments in real estate, environmental avenues and public affairs as a result of the expo.

Expo’s impact on Dubai’s economy

According to a statement from the Expo 2020 executive body, the total GDP will stand at Dh24.2 billion, while a report by Ernst & Young suggests Dubai’s economy will push up to about $33.4 billion as the country prepares to host millions of visitors despite the pandemic. Sectors such as events organisation, construction, and hospitality will contribute Dh68.9 billion, Dh27 billion and Dh11.4 billion, respectively.

A total investment of Dh40.1 billion will be put in in terms of infrastructure and capital as-sets. Event and legacy infrastructure will be allocated Dh53.5 billion.

Sustainability and technology have been highly incorporated for the Expo as the new Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park will provide clean energy and facilitate charging stations for electric cars, and canopies will be covered with solar-panels with the ability to capture water from moisture and air around it, revolutionising sustainable energy sourcing.

Dubai, well-known to achieve the unthinkable, has taken up the challenge of making Expo 2020 the most digitally connected Expo in the history of the event. The latest technology and automation, such as AI and 5G, will play a major role in connecting the site via the Internet of Things. Data will be gathered and visualised via Navigator, a cloud-based energy management platform from Siemens.

The Red Line Dubai Metro has also been extended by 15 km from Jebel Ali Station as a convenient means to arriving at the Expo site. Infrastructure is an integral part of the economy as 301 individual projects worth $100 million are in their execution stage. The innovations in sustainability, technology and infrastructure will boost Dubai’s economic growth between 3.8 and 4.5 per cent over a span of five years, estimates suggest.

Dubai’s impeccable efforts

Expo 2020 will be a catalyst to boosting a broad spectrum of sectors in the name of innovation and development. It is not merely the preparations and the happening of the event itself, but especially the after-effects it will have a positive impact on the economy, with Expo 2020 rep-resenting a gateway to the world, putting Dubai on the world stage, facilitating the formation of business relationships, and attracting tourism and population increases in the long term.

Source: Khaleej Times

Congo Airways has inked a codeshare agreement with national carrier Kenya Airways (KQ) aimed at expanding their reach in the domestic, African and international routes.

The agreement, which was signed Thursday, will make it easy for the KQ customers to access Kinshasa directly from Nairobi as well as ply Africa and international routes jointly, the two airlines said.

A codeshare is a business deal between two or more airlines, which allows them to sell seats on each other’s flights and expand their network.

Each airline publishes and markets a flight under its designator and number as part of its schedule.

“The partnership agreement was signed by Kenya Airways Group CEO Allan Kilavuka and his Congo Airways counterpart Desire Balazire Bantu,” said a statement from State House, Nairobi, yesterday. The deal, signed in Kinshasa, on the last day of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s three-day state visit of Congo, will see the two national carriers also partner in aircraft maintenance.

The two carriers also agreed to collaborate on training and sharing of excess passengers, as well as cargo.

When it resumed international fights last year after a six-month hiatus on Covid-19 travel restrictions, KQ said it would not fly to Angola, Mali, the Republic of Congo, Somali, Sudan, Djibouti, Mozambique and Malawi.

The decision, said the airline, was an extremely difficult one in the current environment, pointing out that the move was necessary as they resumed operations gradually depending on passenger travel demand regionally and globally.

The airline’s net loss nearly tripled to Sh36.2 billion, the worst ever in the history of the airline, on account of Covid-19 disruptions that led to a sharp decline in passenger numbers.

The loss, for the financial year ended December 2020, is 2.8 times more than the Sh12.98 billion net loss it had posted a year earlier, and now deals a major blow to the recovery efforts of the national carrier.

Source: Business Daily

A slow roll-out of COVID-19 vaccination campaigns in Africa will limit the recovery of international travel across the continent, according to a report released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) on Wednesday.

Africa, in comparison with other regions globally, has struggled in rolling out its vaccination campaign due to various factors causing it to lag behind in achieving targets of vaccinating its population.

The emergence of COVID-19 variants, especially from South Africa and the UK, has further complicated the lifting of travel restrictions within the continent and in other regions.

“With only 14% of the region’s RPKs (Revenue Passenger Kilometers) generated on domestic markets this will provide little cushion,” the report said, noting that domestic markets will improve faster than international travel.

“Relatively weak economic growth will also limit the extent of pent-up demand,” it added.

Demand and capacity across the continent in 2021 are also set to remain below the levels recorded in 2019.

Africa’s airline industry will also report losses this year due to the disruptions arising from the pandemic; however, they will be down from those incurred last year.

The sector is forecast to incur losses amounting to of $1.7 billion, or 24 percent of total revenues, compared to the 2020 figure of $2 billion, or 32 percent of total revenues, the report said.

Africa’s losses are predicted to be the lowest of the world’s six regions while Europe is expected to be the worst-hit with losses of up to $22.2 billion.

However, in terms of percentage of revenues, Africa’s losses are marginally the highest of all the regions with Europe second with 23.9 percent.

Africa’s aviation sector has been hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic with low demand for flights across the continent coupled with several cancellations and suspensions resulting in a huge drop in passenger revenue.

In light of the persisting effects of the pandemic, airlines and countries resorted to different measures in response to the fall in airline passenger revenue.

In particular, several airlines stepped up their cargo operations in an attempt to boost revenues and fight to avoid a total collapse.

IATA, in its report, noted this move saying a “historic high” increase of cargo revenues to $152 billion will strengthen a rise in industry revenues.

“In 2021 cargo will account for a third of industry revenues. This is significantly above cargo’s historic contribution, which ranged around 10-15% of total revenues. The improvement in cargo, however, is not able to offset the dramatic decline in passenger revenues.”

IATA said that in the face of the ongoing crisis, a number of immediate measures had to be implemented to prop up the industry. The key measure identified was plans being put in place for a restart in preparation for a recovery so as not to waste time once restrictions are fully lifted.

Air transport in Africa supports about 6.2 million jobs with Ethiopia the most reliant on it with more than 500,000 jobs followed by Tanzania (+336,000), Ghana (+284,000) and South Africa (+250,000).

Source: CGTN Africa

Kenyans traveling out of the country from 2022 will be required to have a vaccine passport, this is according to the country’s Cabinet Secretary for Tourism, Najib Balala.

The Government is in consultations with the International Air Transport Association (IATA), to create the vaccine passports.

“The reality is we’re going to get a vaccination passport. It’s like the former yellow fever vaccination card, so we will have a vaccination card for COVID-19, and probably one will need to be vaccinated every year.” Balala said.

The announcement was made during the launch of the vaccination drive of the hospitality and tourism sector to hoteliers, tour drivers, travel agents, restaurants foodservice and bars employees in KICC, Nairobi.

“COVID-19 vaccination is an important tool in curbing the effects of the pandemic, which will eventually help tourism rise again.” the ministry of tourism said.

The vaccination drive will begin in Nairobi for the next 10 days, and will then move to the other 4 counties within the one zone area (Machakos, Kiambu, Kajiado and Nakuru), and eventually vaccinate all the hospitality and tourism frontline workers in Kenya.

Source: CGTN Africa