A new analysis by Marie Noel Nuukoro of the Brenthurst Foundation shows that Morocco’s experience of aviation liberalization demonstrates how strategic reforms can transform air travel across Africa.
As the first African nation to sign an open sky agreement with the European Union in 2006, Morocco’s bold move has achieved impressive results despite initial skepticism. Passenger volume between Morocco and Europe increased by about 18% per year in the four years after the transaction, creating an additional 1 billion euros in Morocco’s GDP by 2009, creating an estimated 24,000 jobs.
“Sceptics feared that the onslaught of low-cost airlines in Europe would kill the national airline Royal Air Mallock (RAM), which wasn’t,” Nuukoro wrote in her report, “Soaring over the air blues: how reforms transform air travel across Africa.”
Tourists arrived steadily at around 6% per year, with average fares falling by about 7%. Adapted to a competitive environment, Royal Airmallock continues to be the largest player in the market despite competition with dozens of European airlines. The deal also sparked domestic innovation, launched in 2009 by Air Arabia Maroc to accommodate the budget travel segment.
Implementation is not without challenges. Ram CEO Abdelhamid Addou explained the imbalance in which European airlines gained free access to the Moroccan market, with RAM having a hard time securing landing slots at major European airports.
The Moroccan approach contrasts with broad protectionism across Africa. Despite housing 18% of the world’s population, Africa accounts for just 2% of the world’s air passenger traffic. A 2022 African Union survey predicts that the full implementation of a single African air transport market will increase Africa’s GDP by $4.2 billion, create nearly 600,000 jobs, and reduce average airfares by 27%.
Due to previous limited liberalization between Kenya and South Africa, passenger traffic was 69%, while the South African and Zambia routes experienced a 38% traffic increase when low-cost carriers entered the market.
