WE, the Ministers in charge of Transport, meeting through Video conferencing on 23rd April 2020 as the Sub Committee of Transport under the Bureau of the Specialized Technical Committee on Transport, Transcontinental and Interregional Infrastructure, Energy and Tourism, organized by the African Union Commission (AUC) to consider strategies for support the continental strategy on COVID-19 pandemic:

1.    Take into consideration the meetings of the African Union (AU) Bureau of Heads of State and Government held respectively on 26 March 2020 and 03 April 2020 regarding Africa’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as the meeting of the Economic Commission for Africa with African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development on 19 March 2020,

2.    Acknowledge the efforts by the AUC Chairperson in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic ;

3.    Applaud the agreement to establish continental ministerial coordination committees on Health, Finance and Transport to coordinate in order to support the comprehensive continental strategy ;

We, the Ministers, reiterating our commitment to develop Transport sectors and to implement the outcomes of this meeting as we have agreed to:

In the Air Transport Sector

4.    Fully support the appeal made by the Chairperson of the AUC for Member States and Partners to take into account the critical situation of the African civil aviation sector;

5.    Adopt COVID-19 recovery actions for the African Aviation industry as proposed by the African Union Commission and its Specialized Agency – the African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC);

6.    Congratulate and appreciate Egypt for the initiative taken to assist other AU member states in transportation of critical cargo including medical supplies and equipments in the on-going efforts to contain COVID-19 pandemic.

7.    Establish a coordination framework between the air transport and tourism sectors in the process of development and implementation of the Recovery measures with involvement of all the key stakeholders and financial institutions.

8.    Call on all multilateral financial institutions and partners, including the AfDB, the World Bank, UN Economic Commission for Africa, and others to to provide financial support to the african civil aviation sector;
9.    Urge African States in cooperation and coordination with the AUC, African Regional Economic Communities (RECs), the AFCAC, the AfDB, the World Bank, the Africa CDC, the WHO, AFRAA, international partners and other stakeholders to Collaborate in their core areas to facilitate the recovery plans, either through human capacity development, financial support, provision of timely analyses and/or the sharing of best practices.

10.    Encourage African States to:
a)    In the short- to medium-term, cushion African Airlines, Airport Companies, Air Navigation Service Providers, Civil Aviation Authorities,  including provision of direct financial assistance, loans, loan guarantees and support for the corporate bond market, tax relief, reduction, waiver or deferral of government-imposed taxes and fees;
b)    Advocate for the suspension of the due requirements for leasing for the benefit of African airlines.
c)    Continue support for Continuity of Flight Operations, including Critical Cargo Flights, protection of revenue sources for the service providers and any other measures that do not distort or contravene international civil aviation conventions from further financial loss.
d)    Develop and implement comprehensive Post-COVID-19 National Civil Aviation Recovery Plans to support the civil aviation Regulatory and Oversight functions and help industry recover from the losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic;
e)    Treat this plan as a matter of priority to pave the way and accelerate the implementation of the existing regional and national plans, programmes and initiatives as it might have direct impact on eventual recovery.
11.    Call on ICAO, the AUC, the African RECs, the AFCAC, the AfDB, the World Bank, UNECA, European Commission, international development partners, donor communities, as well as financial institutions, consistent with their respective mandates, to provide technical expertise, resources and support for the implementation of the above actions.

In the Maritime Transport Sector

12.    Call upon Member States to ensure the continuity of maritime transport industry and all the related services to facilitate the delivery of food and medical supplies

13.    Liaise with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and other key partners to put in place appropriate measures to mitigate the possible impacts of the oil prices to the maritime transport industry.

14.    Continuously monitor the impact of the COVID-19 to the maritime transport sector to put in place, together with international, continental and regional key partners any necessary mitigation measures during and after the COVID-19 crisis.

15.    Congratulate and appreciate Egypt for the initiative taken to assist other AU member states in transportation of critical cargo including medical supplies and equipment’s in the on-going efforts to contain COVID-19 pandemic.

16.    Urge Member States to embark on massive awareness and training of the public and maritime workers, provide adequate laboratory test kits and Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) for maritime workers and practice other WHO and IMO recommended safety guidelines ;

17.    Recommend AUC and UNECA to support Port Authorities and Associations for the preparation of the continental strategy guidelines during the outbreak and after quarantine.

18.     Encourage opening of land borders for cargo and humanitarian assistance with strict enforcement of WHO COVID-19 prevention guidelines;

19.    Appeal to Member States to keep the ports completely open to allow for delivery of food supplies given Africa’s vulnerability in food security ;

20.    Urge Member States that have closed their borders to open them in order to provide trade and humanitarian services ;

In the Roads and Railway Sector

21.    Call upon AU Member States to effectively enforce the preventive measures established by the Africa CDC in public transport (trains, buses, taxis) as well as stations to avoid transport to be a vector of spreading of the pandemic;

22.    Establish humanitarian corridors taking into account landlocked countries to facilitate quick delivery of critical food and medical supplies.

23.    Appeal to all the AU Member States to promote the establishment and operation of an exceptional regime for administrative and customs formalities on all transport corridors in order to ensure diligence in the convoy of sanitary materials and foods among countries;

24.    AU Member States to take urgent actions for the maintenance of the roads to allow the circulation of foods and humanitarian materials.

25.    Encourage all AU member states as well as all African road safety stakeholders (UNECA, SSATP, etc.) to implement the African strategic directions for the decade 2020-2030 on road safety, in order to cope with the expected high growth of traffic after the Covid-19 pandemic.

26.    Encourage the suspension of the due requirements of the PPP contributions in highways for the benefits of African parties.   

27.    Ensure that all other COVID-19 urgent actions and recovery plan for the road and railway transport industries are implemented.
 

Done on 23th April 2020