Mudavadi used the Aviation Africa Summit in Nairobi to urge African states to move beyond commitments and accelerate practical implementation of SAATM. He spoke at the 10th Aviation Africa Summit and Exhibition at the Sarit Expo Centre on 9–10 September 2026.
Aviation integration tied to trade and AfCFTA
SAATM, launched by the African Union in 2018 under Agenda 2063, aims to create one liberalised air transport market across Africa. It seeks to open routes and remove restrictive bilateral air service agreements.
According to the African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC), 38 African states had signed up to SAATM by mid-2026. However, only 26 had concluded detailed memoranda of implementation that remove real barriers in their bilateral treaties.
As a result, intra-African connectivity reached about 23% by late 2025, up from 14.5% in 2022. AFCAC data also show the number of intra-African routes rising from 59 in 2023 to 124 by March 2026. However, Mudavadi argued that this progress remains partial. Many journeys between neighbouring African countries still require transit through hubs outside the continent, raising travel times and costs and limiting trade.
He linked stronger air connectivity directly to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), stressing that freer movement of people and goods is vital to deeper integration under Agenda 2063. That connection reflects a wider policy trend. AFCAC and AU bodies have increasingly aligned SAATM implementation with AfCFTA and the Free Movement Protocol, recognising that air transport liberalisation underpins regional value chains and services trade.
African skies will not power African trade until political signatures turn into open routes and predictable regulations.
What does unified African airspace mean for investors?
Mudavadi’s call centred on five practical pillars: harmonised regulations, mutual recognition of standards, strengthened safety oversight, open skies, and coordinated investment in aviation infrastructure. For airlines and airport investors, those priorities translate into lower regulatory friction, clearer market entry conditions and the ability to plan networks around demand rather than bilateral constraints.
Industry data already point to the commercial potential. AFCAC figures for early 2026 show SAATM-linked networks covering 124 intra-African routes served by 113 African airlines, carrying just over three million passengers. Meanwhile, Africa still accounts for only around 2% of global air traffic despite a population of approximately 1.4 billion people, according to African Development Bank-linked analysis published in August 2026. That gap between demographic weight and aviation activity underpins Mudavadi’s argument that more open skies can unlock significant upside for carriers, airports, tourism operators and trade-focused investors.
Kenya is positioning itself as a key beneficiary of that shift. Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) handled about 8.9 million passengers in 2025, against a design capacity of 7.5 million, making it the region’s second-busiest airport after Addis Ababa’s Bole International Airport.
In mid-2026, Kenya signed a KSh154.2 billion (roughly US$1.2 billion) design-and-build modernisation contract for JKIA, financed as sovereign debt arranged through Trade and Development Bank and Africa Finance Corporation. As a result, the state is signalling long-term hub ambitions in East Africa. Hosting the Aviation Africa Summit and involving Kenya Airways as host airline partner reinforces that message.
Three benefits for capital providers
For investors, fuller SAATM implementation promises three main benefits. First, it can reduce operating costs by easing restrictions on frequencies, fares and capacity, allowing better aircraft deployment. Second, it can expand route networks, opening direct city pairs that currently rely on non-African hubs, which supports tourism and time-sensitive trade.
Third, it can strengthen connectivity into AfCFTA’s 1.4 billion-person market, improving access for logistics, retail, manufacturing and services investors. The Mombasa Industrial Park development illustrates how East Africa’s infrastructure push extends well beyond aviation, with logistics and trade corridors expanding in parallel.
The next signals to watch will be whether more states sign and operationalise SAATM memoranda, how quickly Kenya advances its JKIA upgrade, and whether regulators match Mudavadi’s rhetoric with harmonised rules that make unified African airspace a day-to-day reality for airlines and their capital providers.
Quick answers
According to AFCAC, 38 African states had signed up to SAATM by mid-2026, but only 26 had concluded detailed memoranda removing real barriers. By March 2026, the network covered 124 intra-African routes served by 113 airlines carrying just over three million passengers.
Kenya signed a KSh154.2 billion (roughly US$1.2 billion) design-and-build modernisation contract for JKIA in mid-2026, financed as sovereign debt arranged through Trade and Development Bank and Africa Finance Corporation.
Africa accounts for only around 2% of global air traffic despite a population of approximately 1.4 billion people, according to African Development Bank-linked analysis published in August 2026.
