Morocco has distinguished itself from other African countries by adopting “liberal” measures, at a time when many states remained attached to “traditional protectionist” policies, which hampered the continent’s air sector and prevented it from taking advantage of the dynamics of the world market, analyzes the researcher Marie-Noëlle Nwokolo, in a new report published by The Brenthurst Foundation and of which she is the author. According to its details, Morocco, as the first African country to open its sky to European airlines, has undertaken an experience full of challenges, in particular in the face of fears of seeing the role of the Royal Air Maroc (RAM) reduce under pressure from the fierce competition of low -cost companies like Ryanair and Easyjet, but the reality has demonstrated the opposite.
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Rather, this experience has contributed to a significant increase in air traffic during the four years which followed the signing of the agreement. An annual growth of approximately 18 % of the number of passengers between Morocco and Europe has been recorded, which made it possible to inject almost a billion euros into the gross domestic product, and to create around 24,000 direct and indirect jobs, specifies the report. This opening also contributed to an increase of approximately 6 % of the number of tourists, as well as a drop in prices of tickets estimated at 7 %, making travel to Morocco more attractive and opening up new prospects for low-cost travel, it is still specified.
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“Liberalization requires flexible management and continuous adjustments to support market evolution,” said, adding that “Morocco has managed to use these tools to maintain a balance between opening and competition”. The report calls on African countries to learn from successful experiences such as those in Morocco, Ethiopia and South Africa, and to work for the liberalization of their airspace. They are mainly invited to adopt strategic partnerships likely to revive the local economy and to facilitate regional integration.
Recommendations that are justified by the fact that “Africa, although sheltering 18 % of the world’s population, represents only 2 % of global air traffic”, due to “protection, bureaucracy and high costs”, underlines the report.
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