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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Economy & Trade

Air Peace Launches Routes to Boost African Trade

From ThisDay · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Air Peace has launched new routes connecting 13 African capital cities, aiming to facilitate the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) initiative.
  • The airline's expansion addresses poor connectivity, a major barrier to intra-African trade, which currently stands at about 16% compared to Europe's 68% and Asia's 59%.
  • These new flights aim to boost business, tourism, trade, and cultural exchange, potentially breaking down historical trade barriers on the continent.

Nigeria's Air Peace is actively working to realize the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) vision by launching new flight routes. The airline now connects business travelers, investors, and tourists to 13 capital cities across West and Central Africa. This initiative aims to overcome the significant challenge of poor connectivity that has historically hindered intra-African trade.

AfCFTA, a projected free trade zone encompassing 54 countries, 1.3 billion people, and a $1.4 trillion economy, relies heavily on improved transportation links. Africa's intra-continental trade is notably low, around 15-16%, far below Europe's 68% and Asia's 59%. This is attributed to historical trade patterns, infrastructure deficits, and complex border procedures.

Air Peace's new routes, including connections from Lagos to Accra, Abidjan, Dakar, and Libreville, directly tackle the issue of poor connectivity. Previously, many intra-African journeys required indirect routing through Europe or the Middle East, increasing costs and limiting trade. The airline's expansion into these regions, alongside existing international flights to London and the Caribbean, signifies a strategic effort to enhance both regional and global accessibility from Nigeria.

The airline recently inaugurated its Lagos–Conakry–Bamako route, marking a significant step in its regional expansion. Air Peace stated that this new route opens up "greater opportunities for business, tourism, trade, cultural exchange and people-to-people connections across" West Africa. This move is seen as a crucial step in fostering greater economic integration and breaking down long-standing barriers to trade among African nations.

The new route marks another significant milestone in the airline’s strategic regional expansion drive, connecting Nigeria’s commercial capital with the Republic of Guinea and the Republic of Mali, while opening up greater opportunities for business, tourism, trade, cultural exchange and people-to-people connections across

— Air PeaceStatement from Air Peace announcing the new Lagos-Conakry-Bamako route.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ThisDay in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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