The Afican Business Aviation Association (AfBAA) said here at EBACE yesterday that it is in final talks to join the International Business Aviation Council (IBAC). As a member of IBAC, the organization wants to be able to represent the entire continent of Africa when it comes to business aviation. One final hurdle remains, however, and that is to finalise a draft MoU between AfBAA and the Middle East and North Africa Business Association (MEBAA), brokered by IBAC. As it stands, MEBAA is recognized as representing North Africa–as it was formed some years earlier than AfBAA–and this has led to a period of negotiation between the three parties.
According to AfBAA executive director and CEO Rady Fahmy, his organization has been in constant conversation with IBAC since the company’s inception five years ago. “Joining IBAC means a lot for both organizations [IBAC and AfBAA],” Fahmy told AIN. “The council needs this continent to be represented by a body that enables IBAC to do its job and [meet] its requirements, responsibilities and so forth. It needs a vehicle to discuss things with, and it needs somebody that has information about [Africa]. This is from IBAC’s perspective.
"From AfBAA’s perspective, there’s a lot the organization can learn from IBAC and other members. Being a part of IBAC means that AfBAA would be in contact with other not-for-profit organizations that all have the same objective, to support the business aviation community," continued Fahmy.
“The interactions between associations are very important," he said, "to allow the other operators to work easily in Africa and vice versa when we have our operators flying into Europe or flying anywhere. That’s why there is a need for both IBAC and the [associations] to be recognized and to be working in a close relationship.
"Ultimately AfBAA has a simple doctrine: Africa cannot be divided. [We believe] that organizations cannot take a continent and talk about one part of it while disregarding the other," said Fahmy, who added AfBAA is not looking to be the only representative for Africa. He said he believes working with other peers and organizations will help the continent when it comes to business aviation, as the end objective for organizations like AfBAA is the success of the market in Africa.
“If you look at the business aviation community first and how to best serve it, then you can choose the player that will best represent that issue. It can be an issue that is continental. In that case, AfBAA is the natural choice. It can be an issue that revolves around working with the Arab world [then] MEBAA makes more sense at this point.”
"Looking forward," said Fahmy, "the goal for AfBAA is to support smaller business aviation organizations within Africa. Countries like Nigeria and Ethiopia now have their own business aviation associations for their internal country issues. AfBAA supports these organizations and wants to continue developing the understanding of business aviation, the benefits it brings to the continent and how people can get involved to develop the industry."
