Lerato Mataboge, commissioner for infrastructure and energy at African Union (AU) has explained that the AU is initiating a decisive conversation around building African shipping lines and aircraft, ensuring that the advancement in maritime, aviation and road networks is complemented by a robust and connected transport sector.

According to her, this commitment to local production ensures that the jobs and economic contribution are firmly rooted in Africa.

Mataboge noted this in an exclusive interview with Business day at the Luanda summit co-hosted by AUDA-NEPAD, where she explained that the AU is acutely focused on ensuring these substantial benefits are distributed equitably among member states.

She says, “There are plans that will ensure the continent ends up manufacturing a vast large percentage of an aircraft, along with all necessary ancillary support mechanisms. Critically, the AU is working to avoid reliance on imports, as out priority is industrialisation”.

“A collaborative cross-lending model is being pursued, to allow member states to pool technical and artisanal skills relevant to sectors across AU member countries, such as rail and aviation”, she explained.

This strategy signals the AU’s commitment to building a more connected, skilled, and industrially self-sufficient continent through infrastructure development.

“Nigeria is one of those that will be part of the conversation on the maritime sector”.

This forms a key component of the AU’s Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) policy to prioritise intra-continental connectivity, local manufacturing, and specialised skills to drive economic benefits and equitable growth, while creating 500,000 jobs in aviation and infrastructure.

In speaking about infrastructure development leading to job creation in the continent, Mataboge described how the integration of skills is an investment that will be created out of sector across member states of the AU.

“For example, if Nigeria anchors skills on rail transport, and South Africa or Kenya anchors aviation, citizens from other countries can be sent to train in those respective anchor regions.

That’s the grand vision,” Mataboge said. “So that when we integrate, we’re not just talking policies, we’re talking practical. It’s the skills, it’s the investment… it’s the industrial base that we’re going to create out of the sector.”

The AU has so far been making concerted efforts to leverage aviation and transport integration as a major engine for job creation and economic transformation across the continent. 

This ambitious strategy aims to tap into an air transport market that analysts suggest could generate $4.2 billion in GDP and create up to 500,000 new jobs.

Mataboge highlighted that aviation integration has been prioritised precisely because the continent is currently lagging in the continent. 

“Just travelling across our continent is the most difficult. To connect between countries, you must often leave the continent and come back,” she stated, underscoring the urgent need for better intra-African air links.

She recognised the aviation’s critical role as a rapid mover of people and essential goods, a fact starkly illustrated during the COVID-19 pandemic, when moving critical protective gear and medicines proved challenging.

For her, the AU’s starting point from a relatively low base in integration means the opportunities for maximum impact and job creation are significantly higher.

The AU’s vision extends far beyond merely harmonising standards and addressing pricing policies. Its strategy encompasses a vast industrial and infrastructure also covering, infrastructure investment, which is the actual construction, upgrading, and maintenance of airports, which is a core focus and a distinct industry in itself.

While air transport is a major focus, the AU is pursuing a multi-modal approach. In the West African region, the priority is to accelerate the finalisation of a key highway connecting various countries, including the vital route to Abidjan.

Source: Business Day