The Minister of Aviation, Joe Baidoe-Ansah has called on West African states to foster closer and deeper cooperation in order to lift the Aviation Sector to the required standard. He said it is imperative for leaders, technocrats and stakeholders in the Aviation industry to collaborate, share experiences and build their capacities together to ensure safety and security in air transport in the community. Mr. Baidoe-Ansah made the assertion when he met with Ministers responsible for Aviation in the Republics of Benin and Togo at separate meetings in Lome and Cotonou to discuss the management of the Accra Flight Information Region, FIR. The Accra FIR, currently controlled by the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority, GCAA, comprises the territorial airspaces of Ghana, Togo, Benin and part of the territorial airspaces of Equatorial Guinea and Sao Tome including a substantial portion of the Atlantic Ocean up to 9 degrees south of the Equator.
Benin and Togo, over the years, have been agitating to take over the control of their airspaces and have in recent times threatened to withdraw from the Accra FIR unless Ghana agrees to their joint-management request. An agreement to that effect expected to have been signed last month could not come on due to unforeseen circumstances. It has therefore become critical for Ghana to act swiftly to allay the fears and agitations of Benin and Togo hence the Ghanaian Minister’s consultations with his counterparts in the two sister countries. The three Ministers have agreed to meet in Accra before the end of this month to hold final negotiations on the joint-management agreement which will pave way for the signing of the document.
Mr. Joe Baidoe-Ansah assured his counterparts in Benin and Togo of Ghana’s commitment to the proposed joint-management of the FIR and called for further cooperation in infrastructural and human resource development in the aviation industry. He was accompanied on the trip by some officials from the Ministry of Aviation and the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority.
