On advocacy for the release of airline blocked funds in Burundi, AFRAA Secretary General – Mr. Abderahmane Berthé and Mr. Raphael Kuuchi – Director Government, Legal, and Industry Affairs, met the Governor of the Bank of the Republic of Burundi – Mr. Dieudonné Murengerantwari, this week on Thursday, 21 September 2023.
AFRAA Leadership was accompanied by various representatives of AFRAA member airlines with operations in Burundi that are impacted by the blocked funds situation, including: Ethiopian Airlines, Kenya Airways, RwandAir, and Uganda Airlines.
The deliberations with the Burundi Central Bank Governor on how to support the efficient operations of airlines was very fruitful. Specifically, the Central Bank committed to facilitate the repatriation of the proceeds of airlines’ sales. AFRAA appreciates the Burundi Central Bank Governor’s and his team’s openness to come up with practicable solutions to remedy the situation very soon.
The issue of blocked funds in many countries is challenging for African airlines. To address the matter, AFRAA has established a Blocked Funds Task Force with some member airlines to engage with the concerned States to unlock the funds.
“AFRAA calls upon governments to consider Aviation as a priority sector and reduce the level of blocked funds.” Mr. Berthé stated.