Ministers and Heads of Delegation from across the African Union have adopted the Lomé Ministerial Declaration and Implementation Matrix on Accelerating Accessible, Connected, Affordable and Sustainable Air Transport — what AFCAC Secretary-General Adefunke Adeyemi described as a historic turning point for the continent's aviation integration agenda.

The Declaration was adopted during the inaugural African Air Transport Convention and Expo 2026, hosted in Lomé, Togo — the SAATM Champion State — under the patronage of President Faure Gnassingbé. Nigeria's Minister of Aviation Festus Keyamo was among the senior ministers present.

What the Declaration Commits To

The Lomé Declaration reaffirms the Yamoussoukro Decision and SAATM as continental priorities, committing member states to liberalise air services, streamline airline designation processes, and improve route approval systems. Ministers acknowledged that high aviation taxes, fees, and operational bottlenecks inflate travel costs, suppress demand, and weaken route viability — endorsing the Continental Harmonised Policy Framework on Aviation Taxes, Charges and Fees as a guiding instrument for coordinated action.

A major outcome is the AFCAC Solidarity Commitment 2026–2028 — a resource mobilisation initiative to strengthen AFCAC's capacity through financial assistance, technical support, and capacity-building programmes. The Declaration also backs intra-African cargo corridor development aligned with AfCFTA trade value chains and calls for bankable aviation infrastructure projects covering airports, air navigation systems, and cargo facilities.

Nigeria's Position at Lomé

Keyamo participated in two high-level panels on SAATM implementation and air transport affordability. He committed Nigeria to streamlining permits for African carriers and leading the Banjul Accord Group toward treating West Africa as a unified domestic aviation market within 24 months. On affordability, he described aviation as "an economic enabler, not a revenue collection point" and cited Nigeria's 30 per cent discount on statutory fees, transition toward VAT neutrality, and audit of duplicate levies as concrete actions.

The Implementation Challenge

The Declaration's innovation is its Implementation Matrix — a structured accountability framework that assigns specific actions, timelines, and responsible institutions to each commitment. Whether the Matrix translates into measurable change will determine whether Lomé 2026 differs from the continental aviation declarations that preceded it. The Yamoussoukro Decision was signed in 1999. SAATM was formally launched in 2018. As of 2026, the majority of intra-African traffic still routes through hubs outside the continent. The pressure of the Implementation Matrix is real — but so is the weight of African aviation's history of declarations without delivery.