Kigali, 2^nd July 2019- Akagera Aviation Limited and Nexus Holding Group Limited signed a Joint Venture Agreement to establish the first Aviation Academy in Rwanda. Nexus Group shall hold 60% of the shares and Akagera Aviation Ltd shall hold 40%.

The new Aviation Academy will offer first class training in all the key areas of expertise in aviation including: Flight Training, Aircraft Maintenance, Cabin Crew, Aircraft Dispatchers, Ground Services and others.

The Academy is planned to be fully operational in six months but will capitalize from the current Akagera Aviation Flight School for fixed-wing aircrafts.

In the next 5 years, the Academy is expected to acquire a fleet of 34 aircrafts and 10 Simulators and is planning to train about 370 pilots, 376 Aircraft Maintenance Engineers, 285 Aircraft Dispatchers, 500 students in Ground Services and 500 Cabin Crew.

Speaking at the Ceremony, Hon. Claver Gatete, Minister of Infrastructure thanked the two companies for concluding such important partnership, he declared, “We are excited to attract such investments and we have high expectations from this new Aviation Academy. This investment fully aligns with the National Transport Policy which focuses on establishment of an Aviation Centre of Excellence to develop skills needed to support the growth of the aviation sector in Rwanda. This Academy will not only ensure sustainable growth of the aviation, but will also be in the Centre of the effort to offer valuable employment opportunities to Rwandans.”

According to the Minister, national carrier-RwandAir has been progressing steadily over the past 5 years earning a reputation of one of Africa`s fastest growing airline.

However, the airline is still dominantly depending on foreign expatriates in terms of pilots, engineers, technicians etc. This Joint Venture is expected to address issues of capacity and skills gap in Rwandan aviation industry.

Abdullah M. Al-Sayed, Chairman of Nexus Holding Group Ltd mentioned that they chose to invest in Rwanda because the country is in a strategic location that enables the company to tap into the region and entire African Market. He said, “We are committed to offer quality standard services in order to actively participate in the growth of the aviation industry in Rwanda and Africa in general”.

Currently, RwandAir operates 29 destinations with 1,151,300 passengers recorded in 2018/2019. The target to be achieved is 1,370,781 passengers by 2019/2020 and 2,174,744 passengers by 2024 as indicated in the National Strategy for Transformation Targets and the National Transport Policy.