A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) to work towards aviation infrastructure development and capacity-building in Africa.

The agreement comes just months after the launch of the Single African Air Transport Market, an Agenda 2063 project designed to create a single unified air transport market and liberalise civil aviation on the continent.

“Working cooperatively is, and has always been, fundamental to the aviation sector,” said ICAO Council president Dr Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu.

“This new framework with NEPAD will allow us to effectively address the development and modernisation 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 MoU will contribute 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 in November 2017.

Both organisations will now be working more closely together in facilitating the movement of persons and goods in Africa, mobilising resources for aviation infrastructure development, 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 organisations and improve aviation infrastructure development in Africa,” said NEPAD chief executive 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).”

The Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) 2020-2030 action plan aims to develop a vision and strategic framework for the development of regional and continental infrastructure.