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African air transport market is unified. African Open Sky was launched

During the 30th African Union summit in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) on January 28, 2018, the African Open Sky was launched - African Open Sky https://www.africanopensky.aero/ . 23 out of 54 African countries have joined this project. This is the first of the twelve flagship projects of Agenda 2063 of the African Union https://au.int/en/agenda2063 , whose goal is the socio-economic transformation of Africa. Agenda 2063 also includes the introduction of the African Passport and the Continental Free Trade Area.
The agreement on the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) was signed in Yamoussoukro (Côte d'Ivoire) in 1999. In 2013, it was confirmed in the framework of Agenda 2063.
The realization of the idea of the Single African Air Transport Market began in 2015 by assuming the obligations of 11 countries: Benin, Cape Verde, the Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Later, another 12 countries joined SAATM: Burkina Faso, Botswana, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Sierra Leone, Swaziland and Togo.
The total number of African countries that joined the Single African Air Transport Market is 23.
According to the African Union, these 23 countries have a combined population of about 670 million people, this is more than half of the continent's population, and they cover more than half of the continent's international visitors and almost 80% of intra-African traffic.
http://www.jeuneafrique.com/522144/economie/transport-aerien-cest-enfin-...
http://atwonline.com/open-skies/african-open-skies-become-effective-jan-28
Air transport promotes the development of trade and tourism, attracts investment and promotes economic growth. According to the President of the African Development Bank, today the African aviation industry is adding $ 73 billion to the continent's annual GDP and has about 7 million jobs - an average of 130,000 people per country in Africa.
In 2015, the aviation industry served 120 million passengers. It is projected that over the next 20 years the aviation industry will grow by 5% annually, and by 2035 the industry's revenue will triple and the number of passengers will increase to more than 300 million passengers per year https://www.afdb.org/en/news-and-events/africa-must-implement-1999-yamou...
A study by the Canadian company InterVistas, which provides transport and tourism consulting services http://www.intervistas.com/ , says that the launch of the Single African Air Transport Market will allow its passengers to save from 25 to 35% of the ticket price.