WINDHOEK - Namibia is to host the prestigious Aviation and Business Leadership Conference on September 2 to 4. The conference is expected to bring together over 280 industry and allied sector delegates from Europe, the Middle East, North and South America, Africa and Asia.

Several African minister and industry decision-makers from the public and private sector are expected to attend, making the conference a hot-spot for investors seeking new opportunities in Africa and providing opportunity for industry partners to renew existing bonds.

Captain Edward Boyo, publisher of the Aviation and Allied Business Journal, the organisers of the conference, says the conference will focus on finding more innovative ways of resolving the difficulties facing aviation development in Africa, while making Africa’s coordinated response to common internal and external policy challenges more realisable.

President Hifikepunye Pohamna is expected to open the conference, themed ‘Air Transport Development: Rethinking Africa’s Strategy’.

The conference will re-evaluate the state of air transport growth and development in Africa, while seeking workable options for advancing practical improvement in the sector in the context of the industry’s continued growth and emerging limitations.

“While the continent has made pockets of commendable progress on safety and security, notable gaps still exist. Therefore, the level of such achievements in all aspects of air transport in Africa must now improve significantly and steadily Africa-wide,” Boyo said in a media statement.  

“The African Union will also be in attendance. The first day we will have disco-sessions whereby policy makers such as minister will interact with industry leaders,” said Aduke Atiba the executive director of Landover Company, a leading Aviation Services Provider and Airline Group in Africa.

Atiba said they want the conference to be as collaborative as possible so as to lobby support from policy makers and the AU for a unified response to challenges.