Kigali, 7 February, 2020: The Governments of Rwanda and the Federal Republic of Somalia have signed today a Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) under which the national carrier, RwandAir, and Somali Airlines will operate international commercial passenger and cargo flights between the two countries.

The agreement was signed between Minister of Infrastructure, Hon. Claver Gatete and Somali Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation of Somalia, Hon. Mohamed Abdullahi Salat.

The new agreement allows for each country to operate direct flights between both skies without restrictions regarding the planes’ type or capacity.

Gatete said that signing with Somalia marks 100th BASAs Rwanda has signed with different countries, adding that this “number means a hundred open doors for trade cooperation”.

Minister Gatete said that the agreement could boost trade and air transport networks between both countries.

“This is to make sure that the free trade, the free movement of services, the free airspace is a reality. So, we are leading by example to ensure that this is happening.”

He added that the signing implements the president of Rwanda’s promise to scrap visa fees for citizens of member states of the African Union, La Francophonie and the Commonwealth, a sum of 90 countries.

Minister Claver Gatete noted that this agreement will further strengthen relations between the two countries that the agreement could boost trade and air transport networks between both countries. He said that the fifth freedom aviation agreement will allow Rwanda access to all the airports in Somalia.

“We see this agreement as an opening for our country which will open more opportunities in investment, at the time when we have increased our flights on the continent” he noted

Somali Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation of Somalia said that his country intends to benefit from Rwanda’s strategic geographical location in Africa.

He reiterated that Rwanda’s progress and emphasized that the agreement will bolster trade cooperation between the two countries.

“We are very, very proud of you, coming from the genocide all the way to what we see now. We look forward to opening the trade between Somalia and Rwanda and this is the first step.

“I am sure you will see a lot of Somali investors flocking to your country, and we welcome your investors to also come to Somalia. I am sure we have a lot to learn from your civil aviation and from your government agencies and we will exchange that knowledge hopefully from now on”, he added.

The signing was a fulfilment of the heads of state’s Yamoussoukro Decision of opening airspace on the African continent, and implementation of Africa’s African Continental Free Trade Area the head of states endorsed in 2018.