The Secretary General was in Malabo from 27 June to 1 July 2016 to give an address at the Opening Ceremonies of the Third ICAO Africa and Indian Ocean (AFI) Aviation Week. She called for sufficient investment towards the development of Africa’s civil aviation capacities, including infrastructure and skilled human resources, explaining this would enable the achievement of significant progress towards the safety and security of its air transport and the prosperity and sustainability of African communities.
She was also received by H.E. President Obiang Nguema of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea during this mission. The meeting was an opportunity for the Secretary General to commend Equatorial Guinea for its significant progress in improving its effective implementation (EI) of ICAO Safety Oversight provisions, while President Obiang committed to achieving a higher level of compliance with ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) with ICAO’s assistance. The President also confirmed his State would consider a contribution to the ICAO Voluntary Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF), which supports civil aviation capacity-building in African States. He further supported the view that civil aviation is a key driver for social and economic development, and noted his State’s willingness to cooperate more closely with ICAO on aviation Safety, Security and other aviation development projects.
Side meetings were held with various States on on-going ICAO assistance activities aimed at improving safety and security oversight. The occasion was also used to release the Second Edition of the Annual Safety Report of the RASG-AFI; signing of the project document for membership of the African Flight Procedure Programmes (AFPP) by two States aimed at fostering PBN implementation; and of an ICAO Technical Cooperation Bureau project agreement on safety and security assistance with Equatorial Guinea.
