The African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC)
announced today that Ms. Adefunke Adeyemi has been elected as the new Secretary
General of the Commission.
“The Bureau and the
Secretariat of AFCAC have the honor to inform AFCAC member States,
International Organizations, States Partners, and all aviation and affiliated
Stakeholders that Ms. Adefunke Adeyemi has been elected the new Secretary
General of the African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC)”
Adeyemi’s election as the new Secretary General of
AFCAC was announced at the 34th AFCAC Plenary in Dakar, Senegal. The new AFCAC
Secretary-General takes over from the former Secretary General, Mr. Tefera
Mekonnen TEFERRA whose tenure ended in January 2022, following which Ms.
Angeline Simana steered AFCAC as Interim Secretary General.
Adeyemi remarked
shortly after her election that her objective is to build on the progress
already made by previous Secretaries General and teams of AFCAC to see a new
dawn for change through positive action for AFCAC and African aviation.
“The vision for
African aviation is to enable a fully connected, prosperous, and united Africa.
We have made so much progress and we must stay the course and build on the
current momentum to strengthen existing partnerships and create new mutually
beneficial relationships. We are stronger together and I am fully committed to
collaboration, multilateralism, and fostering cooperation with all States,
partners, and relevant stakeholders to move African aviation forward.”
With an
international career spanning over 20 years, Adefunke began her career as a
practicing lawyer in Nigeria and then as Company Secretary and General Counsel
to Virgin Nigeria Airways before joining the International Air Transport
Association (IATA) where she has worked in different roles over the last 12
years. In her current role as Regional Director, External Affairs and
Sustainability for Africa, she advocates for the sustainability of air
transport, trade, tourism, and business across the region, highlighting its
positive socio-economic impact and value as strategic enablers and accelerators
of development and growth across Africa and beyond.
Up until her
appointment, Ms. Adeyemi has been the IATA focal point for the implementation
of the Single
African Air Transport Market (SAATM) and a Private
Sector Champion of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA), are two
strategic policy initiatives of the African Union designed to promote
intra-African connectivity and trade to secure Africa’s integration and
prosperity.
“We must all work together to tackle the challenges
that African aviation has faced and harness the opportunities that abound to
translate Africa’s aviation potential into reality. The time is now. Africa
must fully connect, for its own survival and prosperity. Civil aviation must
continue to focus on its core areas and also work much closer with the tourism
and trade sectors. This synergy, which must be intentional, will ensure that
African aviation survives, grows, and thrives for the benefit of Africa and its
citizens”, Adeyemi said.
Adeyemi is a
lawyer and advocate, with extensive experience in regional and global strategy
and policy development. She is also a global air transport and trade
facilitation expert, focused on driving value, policy reform, best practices,
and international standards to air transport and related sectors, businesses,
and government. She holds a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B. Hons) from the University
of Lagos, a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from the University of Cambridge, United
Kingdom, and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Nanyang Business
School, Singapore in collaboration with Wharton Business School, Philadelphia
and Berkeley Hass Business School, California.
The African Civil
Aviation Commission (AFCAC) is the specialized agency of the African Union mandated
to oversee matters related to civil aviation across Africa. AFCAC is also
expressly tasked as Executing Agency with facilitating, coordinating, and
ensuring the successful implementation of the Yamoussoukro Decision/Single
Africa Air Transport Market (SAATM) to liberalize Africa’s air transport
industry. It supervises and manages initiatives aimed at improving Safety,
Security, Environment, Human Resources Development, Aviation Training, Aviation
Financing, Infrastructure development in the air and on the ground), and much
more.
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