The Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority has drafted a regulation which paves way for the liberalization of the country’s aviation industry.
The regulation is pending Attorney General’s legal review. It mainly focuses on boosting investment and allowing Ethiopian nationals and members of the Ethiopian diaspora to invest and play a huge role in the aviation sector.
“The bill will enable citizens to participate in domestic and international flight operations, maintenance and aircraft repair, consultancy service, aircraft design and manufacturing, education and training, import, distribution and leasing of aircraft parts,” Fortune reports.
Foreign investors will also be granted a chance to have a pie of the aviation sector through full ownership but will be exempted from domestic and international flights which will require them to enter into partnerships with Ethiopians with a maximum limit of 49 percent.
In order to get into a joint adventure with domestic investors, non national investors will be required to have a minimum of 200,000 dollars and 150,000 dollars.
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The regulation will also eradicate the investment rule that limits investment in aircraft with less than 50 seats, a rule that has been condemned by most investors.
“With more than seven decades of history of air service, we still have only one globally competent airlines and everything is controlled by the government, “The government could not survive by intervening in capital intensive markets where every resource requires foreign currency,”
Endeshaw Yigezu, air transport director at the Authority said.
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