Rwanda's Minister of Trade and Industry, Antoine Marie Kajangwe, has called for African countries to reduce taxes, fees and levies on air travel, saying high costs are limiting movement and business opportunities across the continent.
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Kajangwe made the remarks during the closing session of the two-day African Mindset Reset Forum in Kigali on August 26. He said Rwanda was ready to work with other countries and the private sector to lower the cost of air travel and advance the implementation of the Single African Air Transport Market.
"Even if Rwanda is to do it unilaterally, we will do it unilaterally. It's something that we must begin to do."
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He noted that many of the fees and levies imposed on air travel are used by governments to raise revenue and finance infrastructure projects.
The minister said policymakers, the private sector and other stakeholders could find ways to lower the costs, allowing transport and travel across the continent to grow and creating more opportunities for leaders and businesspeople.
"We have seen it work with the visa openness policy in Rwanda that then led to many other countries doing and implementing a similar programme and similar policy," he said.
He said supporting the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) was one of the commitments of action from Rwanda, adding that they would work with the AfCFTA Secretariat and other partner states to deliver on its objectives.
Kajangwe said the AfCFTA agreement, adopted in 2018, had moved from being a framework to a functioning system that enables trade across the continent. He added that the next step was to turn that progress into tangible and expanded trade that benefits people, communities, businesses and countries.
Kajangwe said the forum hosted by the African School of Governance showed the need for a delivery mindset and for Africans to work for the continent they want. He said governments should focus on results that improve people's daily lives rather than holding meetings without tangible outcomes.
"Setting up a committee to study a problem that will do a study cannot in itself be the delivery that we want to see on the African continent," he said.
He said delivery should move Africa from rent-seeking towards development, adding that commitments should focus on developing African economies and the continent.
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