By Tinashe Yadley Nyangombe | 

  From my perspective, the main challenge to Zimbabwe is to put an end to a situation of economic stagnation and poverty. This article focuses on aviation in Zimbabwe, and how it can be an opportunity to boost economic growth and sustainable development in the country.

The huge and fearsome operational challenges at Air Zimbabwe, FlyAfrica and Rainbow Airlines discouraged many Zimbabweans from having confidence in aviation services in the country. But such challenges should not deter us from losing our hope in Zimbabwean aviation. I think the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) can actually do more to restore that lost confidence and to promote the emergence of new airlines and flight schools in Zimbabwe. The more the airlines and flight schools we allow into our country, the more we can in turn facilitate poverty reduction by generating economic growth, providing employment opportunities and increasing tax collection.

Through increase of aviation activity in the country, we can also foster the development and conservation of protected areas and the environment in general. Look at the other African countries like Mauritius, Tunisia, Egypt, Ghana. These countries hugely invested in their aviation sectors which in turn proved to be very integral for their economic growth.

There is no point in Air Zimbabwe maintaining very high flight fares which are actually above the world norm. To grow the economy indirectly, fares must be lowered. Once we do that, we will begin to see the economy regaining its strength because it will be very easy for us to export our high value-added products.

We should understand that as a landlocked country, we need to make use of air services the most as compared to other countries. Why then do we have a serious under-provision of air services in Zimbabwe? I mean, look at our national airline again for example. How can a national airline remain so under-resourced with a fleet of much less than 10 total airplanes? Our fleet is too small to service the unmet aviation needs of the entire nation, and besides, the average age of our Boeing fleet is 22 years which is very old and unsafe. If we can be a bit more serious with our aviation industry, our economy can grow by more than 5% per annum.

Of course it is true that the growth of aviation in Zimbabwe automatically means a reduction in our skyrocketing unemployment situation. If we can build airports, flight schools and aircraft assembly plants, it is obvious that we will need a lot of engineers, office personnel,electricians, instructors, technicians, licensing inspectors etc. But let's not look at it that way for now... that is a very primitive way of looking at it and the kind of answer that we must leave for High School students to write in their essays. Lets ask ourselves again. How does aviation increase employment? Did you know that aviation promotes employment through increase in personal mobility? For the poor in Zimbabwe, the lack of affordable transport deprives them of the opportunity to take advantage of job opportunities and essential social services that open up in distant places. Jobs can be available oftentimes, but not in close proximity to the regular job seeker. One should be able to afford to fly to distant places even within the country for employment opportunities.

There is a lot we can say, but in summary the aviation industry has a crucial role to play in achieving sustainable development in Zimbabwe. Our policy makers must take advantage of the many benefits that aviation can offer and help to raise living standards and alleviate poverty in the nation by lowering transport costs, supporting more rapid economic growth and increasing personal mobility.

Tinashe Yadley Nyangombe is an airline Flight Attendant, a trainee pilot, an author and a motivational speaker. His organization, yadley.com is committed to linking aspiring aviators in Africa with training, scholarship and job opportunities worldwide. Tinashe is based in Gweru, Zimbabwe. For more information about Tinashe and his works, he can be reached via his website http://yadley.com