It took just over a year for a decision by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to become reality. This association, which normally brings together 15 African countries, had adopted a series of measures at a summit in December 2024 in Nigeria to lower the cost of regional air transport. This includes a 25% reduction in passenger and security charges.
At the time, ECOWAS stated in its final communiqué that the reform was "a response to the need to improve the quality of life of the population". long-standing concerns about the high cost of flying in West Africa, which has hampered tourism, trade and the free movement of people and goods "
The Community believes that the reform will lead to " lower air fares, increased passenger traffic, stronger regional airlines and deeper regional integration" .
The measure will come into force on 1 January 2026 and will mainly concern intra-regional routes. It will apply to the current 12 ECOWAS Member States. These are Benin, Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea*, Guinea-Bissau*, Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. In 2024, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger withdrew from the organisation following military coups. As a result, they no longer have any links with the rest of the members.
The CEDAO has also specified that it will put in place a monitoring system to ensure that reductions are properly involved. The measure, if it is really applied, should please IATA, the international air transport association. The latter regularly criticises excessively high costs in Africa, as well as bilateral agreements deemed too restrictive. At least one of its demands has been met...
* recently suspended from ECOWAS
