STORIFY: What you missed from the 28th Edition of "Africa in Focus" Show on RadioXYZ93.1FM (1st edition of 2015) on 13 Jan, 2015

Coming Up on 28th Edition: >> Perspective Retrospective 1: Review of the Year 2014

28^th Edition:  

Perspective Retrospective 1: Review of the Year 2014

A New Year is upon us once again. Happy New Year!

We want to use the first edition of the Africa in Focus show for 2015 (also the 28^th edition) to review 2014.

We will therefore be speaking to people who can help us offer a retrospective of the year on some of the biggest stories AIF show covered on West Africa; tourism; and the aviation industry.

Health, especially that of Ebola, was a major talking point on AIF as Radio XYZ blazed the trail back in August 2014 on regular weekly discussions of Ebola under Africa in Focus.

Join us if you can at 1pm on 13 January, 2015 on Radio XYZ93.1fm an www.radioxyzonline.com 

Guests in the studio:

Ø  Cordelia Ukwuoma, West Africa Bureau Chief, Nigerian Television Authority

Ø  Dominick Andoh, Head of Aviation desk, Business & Financial Times Paper

On the line:

·         Kofi Akpabli, award-winning Tourism writer @13h25 for our “Africa in the News” segment

·         Kobby Blay, EbolaWatch @14h30

Post-show Video Clip of Airline Pilot / Aviation Consultant Captain Amoah on Airline Safety

E.K. shared a video with you! “Dear friends, To mark the 20th edition of the Africa in Focus show, we have commenced post-show video interviews that seek to both promote the work of the guests we invite, and some of their ideas on the themes we cover for the show. In this post-show clip, Captain Victor Amoah, airline pilot, aviation Consultant, and columnist for Business & Financial Times paper, also tells us why the aviation sector is the-go-to sector, and how he is keen to educate Ghanaians on the benefits of the aviation industry.” View video

© 2014 Dropbox

Post-show Video Clip of Aviation Consultant Mr.Antwi-Bosiako on Airline Safety

E.K. shared a video with you! “Dear friends, To mark the 20th edition of the Africa in Focus show, we have commenced post-show video interviews that seek to both promote the work of the guests we invite, and some of their ideas on the themes we cover for the show. In this post-show clip, Mr.Antwi-Bosiako, an Aviation Consultant who has worked with ANTRAK AIR before, tells us why the aviation sector remains one of the safest forms of transport in the country. Comments much appreciated! Regards, Emmanuel” View video

© 2014 Dropbox

PODCAST>> "AFRICA IN FOCUS: Africa's Aviation Sector (3) (4 November, 2014)

From E K: "Dear friends, Kindly find the link to the podcast of #AfricainFocus show on Tuesday 4 November, 2014. We spent some 15 minutes getting a quick update from Mr.Diallo of the Accra-based West Africa Network for Peacebuilding on the unfolding situation in Burkina Faso. We spent the 22nd edition of Africa in Focus reprising the theme of Africa's aviation sector, with a focus on safety. We spoke to Captain Victor Amoah, an airline pilot very conversant with the incident, which brought domestic airline Starbow to the headlines. We left the show reminded that the airline industry is one of the safest transport systems around, and we need to do one other thing: build more national airports, which are the missing link between aviation fuel and airline tickets. It really is not only about taxes, but about aviation fuel. Every pilot starts his day having factored fuel. Even more so the domestic airlines. As usual, we had different segments, including our regular "Africa in the News". We look forward to comments! In solidarity! Emmanuel" Click here to view (E K shared these files using Dropbox. Enjoy!) © 2014 Dropbox

AFRICA IN FOCUS >> Coming up on 4 November, 2014: State of Africa's Aviation Sector(3)

State of Africa’s Aviation Sector(3), and Burkina Faso update!

Following domestic airline Starbow’sTakoradi-bound aircraft that was compelled to make an emergency landing at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA), after a hydraulic failure was detected by the pilot 15 minutes into the 45-minute flight, we felt it was important to do a third-take on the theme of Africa’s Airlines. So it is great to be talking about an African Airlines and African Airspace, but liberalization without safety is a non-starter.

Bottom line is this: the airline industry in Africa supports nearly 7 million jobs and $80 billion in GDP, but its potential is hampered by protectionism, constrained markets, safety concerns, costs and inadequate infrastructure and regulation. A report by InterVISTAS for the International Association of Travel Agents says liberalisation of air services covering Algeria, Angola, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia and Uganda could create 155 000 jobs and boost GDP by $1.3 billion.

Additionally, the report studied the economic impact of implementing the 1999 Yamoussoukro Decision, which pledged to open up Africa’s air-transport markets to transnational competition. “It is absurd that it is possible to travel 13 times a week from Nairobi to London yet impossible to travel directly from Nairobi to Dakar. A potential 5 million passengers a year are being denied the opportunity to travel, trade and spread economic and social development,” Airports Council International (ACI) says.

Very recently, the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has proposed the placement of a cap on the age of aircraft permitted to fly to and from the airspace controlled by Ghana, known as the Accra Flight Information Region, as a way of checking recent aviation incidents in the sub-region.

Construed as an important step in ensuring safety, we want to use this 22^nd edition of AIF to take the conversation on about Africa’s airlines even further by asking how safe we are when we fly, and flesh out from our guests important elements the public and consumers need to know about Africa’s aviation industry—both international and domestic!

In the light of developments in Burkina Faso, we will briefly speak to an expert from the West Africa Network on Peacebuilding (WANEP) to help us understand developments underway in that West African country.

Guiding Questions to be answered:

• ·        What concrete measures are airlines taking to help bring down tickets?
• ·     Taxes, Charges and Fees are the highest in West Africa. Is it a case of West African governments being insensitive to the necessity of airlines in contributing to Africa’s development?
• ·        What can our governments do better to help the aviation sector, beyond implementing the YD?
• What are some of the constraints faced by domestic airlines’ growth, and are African governments stil found wanting on inhibiting the growth of the sector?

Guests for the show:

Ø  Alimou Diallo, West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) @13h20

Ø  Mr.Antwi-Bosiako, Aviation Consultant

Ø  Dominick Andoh, Head of Aviation Desk, Business & Financial Times Paper

Ø  Captain Amoah, Aviation Consultant, Business & Financial Times Paper

Ø  Kobby Blay, Ebola Watch

PODCAST>> "AFRICA IN FOCUS: Africa's Aviation Sector (2) (28 October, 2014)

From Emmanuel K: "Dear friends, Kindly find the link to the podcast of #AfricainFocus show on Tuesday 28 October, 2014. We had a mixed bag, where we interviewed Aviation Consultant Antwi-Boasiako, and Head of Aviation News at Business/Financial Times Newspaper Dominick Andoh to speak to the issues of Africa's aviation sector. The last half of the show, we spoke to Samuel Sam, Northern Regional correspondent for the same paper, who had just received a Tourism award for his coverage of the Northern region. Present in the studio was Dr.Boakye of Tourism advocacy organisation Tourism Research Advocacy Centre (TRAC). As usual, we had different segments, including our regular "Africa in the News". We also had #EbolaWatch updates from Kobby Blay, our registered nurse at Korle-Bu, who was at the studios this time for our 21st edition. We look forward to comments! Kind regards, Emmanuel" Click here to view (Emmanuel K shared these files using Dropbox. Enjoy!) © 2014 Dropbox

AFRICA IN FOCUS >> Coming up on 28 October, 2014: State of Aviation Sector in Africa (2)

State of the Aviation Sector(2)

In this edition of AIF, we will be discussing the aviation sector in Africa, with a special focus on two updates.

The first is AFRAA's meeting with the AU Commission that plan to convene a meeting on the Yamassoukro Decision October ending, and the second is the 23rd Airports Council Intl Africa Regional Assembly, held in SA.

We want to find out the state of Africa's aviation sector and explore way forward, especially now Ebola is being contained.

Guiding Questions to be answered:

·        What concrete measures are airlines taking to help bring down tickets?

·        How satisfied are the airlines operating here that the Yamassoukro Declaration is being implemented?

·        Taxes, Charges and Fees are the highest in West Africa. Is it a case of West African governments being insensitive to the necessity of airlines in contributing to Africa’s development?

·        What can our governments do better to help the aviation sector, beyond implementing the YD?
·        How can tourism help synergise with the aviation industry?

Guests in the studio:

Ø  William Afadzinu, Marketing Manager, ASKY Airlines

Ø  Anthony Sarfo, Marketing Manager--West & North Africa, Kenya Airways

Ø  Representative, Arik Air
Ø  Ignatius Ahimbisibwe, RwandAir
Ø  Dr.Boakye, Tourism Research Advocacy Centre, Cape Coast

Tune in at 13h10 GMT (1:00pm Ghana Time). We’re also streaming live  www.radioxyzonline.com.

Contact us Facebook on: http://www.facebook.com/africainfocusonradioxyz and radio XYZ 93.1FM. Tweet us @africainfocus14 and @ekbensah. Listen to us on #MultiTVChannel29. Thanks!

PODCAST>> "AFRICA IN FOCUS: "Africa's Aviation Sector: Challenges; Prospects and the Future" (19 August, 2014)

From Emmanuel K: "Kindly find a podcast of the 19 August edition of "Africa in Focus", which looked at some of the challenges befalling the Aviation Sector in Africa: "Guiding Questions answered: · What concrete measures are airlines taking to help bring down tickets? · How satisfied are the airlines operating here that the Yamassoukro Declaration is being implemented? · What is the state of play about aviation fuel? Are some airlines getting it cheaper elsewhere? · Taxes, Charges and Fees are the highest in West Africa. Is it a case of West African governments being insensitive to the necessity of airlines in contributing to Africa's development? · With the onset of Ebola, how are airlines bracing themselves to respond to the crisis? What assurances are they giving their passengers? · What can our governments do better to help the aviation sector, beyond implementing the YD?" Click here to view (Emmanuel K shared these files using Dropbox. Enjoy!) © 2014 Dropbox