The inevitable crash of African airlines?

The Congo tries to heal the wounds of Congo Airways. The airline is in bad shape. But on the continent, she is far from being the only one…

The Congolese Minister of Transport, Chérubin Okende, is certain that the airline Congo Airways is facing “an unnamed bankruptcy”. On September 9, he presented a report to the Council of Ministers in which he castigated in particular the “poor choices of economic model”, the “non-transparent management” of the company or even “inadequate tariff structures”.

According to Jeune Afrique, the Congolese minister proposes to adopt "temporary measures" to support the company and to release aid, for a moment of more than 50 million dollars, half of which to settle the balance of an Embraer 190 nine blocked in Brazil because not paid by the company.

According to Africa Intelligence, the (interim) boss of Congo Airways, Pascal Kasongo, has meanwhile embarked on a search for second-hand planes. The unsettled note to Embraer obliges, adds the newspaper, the company to turn to rental aircraft.

If Congo Airways seems to be in a critical situation, it is not the only one in Africa. Why are so many airline companies on the continent in such bad shape?

Ethiopian Airlines, the exception that proves the rule?

In 2018, the press was surprised that only one African company was a beneficiary. It was then Ethiopian Airlines. The only one to succeed in a difficult context because, according to specialists, being a private company. Is this the secret of success?

Stacy Ndlovu, author of the book "African Liberty", deplores the bad strategies of African states. Under cover of wanting to protect their national public companies, which are often very badly managed and loss-making, countries are trying to lock down their skies.

The journalist tells how the low-cost Tanzanian company fastjet had to wait three years to launch in Zimbabwe. Blockages on the part of the States which could be understood if their flagships were threatened and successful. However, we are far from it. With the exception of Kenya Airways, South African Airways or Ethiopian Airlines, there are too few examples of success in terms of airlines. And again, the first two lose money.

If the journalist believes that low-cost could save the sector in Africa, we must first go back to realize that the continent is starting from afar. After Independence, Paris has done everything to maintain a certain hegemony on the continent, via Air France and Air Afrique. Since the bankruptcy of the latter, African companies have tried to create themselves, but it is difficult to compete with other international companies, particularly Chinese or Turkish.

Companies on a drip

And those who expect a liberalized skies can be patient. Since 1988 and the Yamoussoukro agreement to liberate the African skies, nothing or almost nothing has progressed.

The policy of African states to block competitors does not help. The boss of the African Airlines Association (AFRAA), Elijah Chingosho, asked in 2017: “How can we liberalize the airlines when we are overtaxing them? »

Conversely, governments prefer to inject mad sums into their companies, thus keeping them on life support, rather than embarking on structural reforms. Some companies survive with state funds, but risk disappearing as their short-term economic policy is doomed to failure. It is not Tunisia that will say, with Tunisair, the opposite.

As for the Congo, despite the failure of Congo Airways, it says it is ready to embark on a new challenge, with the creation, in partnership with Ethiopian Airlines, of a new company, Air Congo. The Minister of Transport would like to speed up the creation of this corporation. But what will he do with Congo Airways? Will the Congolese company be added to the long list of companies that have gone bankrupt in Africa?