Why is Travel so darn expensive in Africa?!

Oh what a strange and eventful week for Africa. To start off the week, Central Africa Republic (yes, that's a country in Central Africa) adopted bitcoin as their official national currency.

They are now just the second country in the world to officially adopt bitcoin (El Salvador being the first back in September 2021). It's a bit ironic, given Central Africa Republic (CAR) is one of the poorest countries in the world with over 70% of the country living below the international poverty line. Additionally, it has one of the lowest average life expectancies at only 53 years-old, while the literacy rate is at a staggering 37%. After CAR gained independence from France in 1960, it had religious rivalries, a variety of ethnic groups and multiple political ideologies. The conflict between different religious and social groups as well as competition over resources caused widespread instability throughout the country. This culminated in a more recent outbreak of violence in 2013, which has left more than half of its population in need of humanitarian aid. While this may sound like an innovative approach to some, it might seem odd to others considering CAR has more pressing issues such as security, education and access to safe drinking water. Then again, it might be worth mentioning that CAR is a close ally of Russia and was only one of a select few countries that chose to abstain from a UN vote condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Additionally, with only 4% of the country having access to web services, the feasibility of this initiative doesn't make much sense considering the use of cryptocurrency requires internet connectivity. More to come and we will see in the coming years what the trajectory will look like for CAR. (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-61248809)

On another note, some exciting news that many of us here in Malawi have been waiting for finally happened. As of Friday, April 29th, the Ministry of Health and Malawian government decided to drop the PCR COVID-19 test requirement for exiting the country. Yes, you heard that right, EXITING the country. While those in government will tell you it was to keep the people safe and healthy and add an extra layer of protection, we all know it was simply a means of collecting extra money.

Now I completely get it if the country you are flying to requires a test, as many do, but this order was placed regardless of the destination country's policies and it had to be a PCR test. Oh, and a PCR test here costs 80,000 MK (~$100 USD) for foreigners and 40,000 MK (~$50 USD) for locals. Also, keep in mind the average monthly income for a worker in Malawi is approximately 300,000MK (~$370 USD). On top of that, flights have become outrageously expensive all across the board. Flying anywhere outside the country, even to neighboring countries is going to cost you at the bare minimum 300,000 MK (~ $370 USD). What once cost about $250-300 USD to Johannesburg will now cost you double that price for the 3 hour round-trip flight. So when you have to account for visa fees, COVID-19 test requirements, and the flight, the prices simply are unaffordable for most, especially most Malawians given their monthly wages. Initially, I kept thinking that once I make it to the continent, traveling to other countries within Africa would be relatively affordable, much like it is in Europe, North America, and the Middle East. Oh, was I wrong about that. It is in fact one of the most expensive places in the world to travel, which is so ironic considering the widespread poverty in many areas across the continent. So why is this the case, and what can be done to potentially make prices more affordable?

As a whole, generally speaking, Malawi and the continent of Africa have abysmal road and rail infrastructure. Getting around by car becomes challenging depending on where you are going. If you even want to drive outside the cities and don't want to risk getting stuck, you'll need to start by having a 4-wheel drive SUV with high clearance and horsepower as well as strong wheels to get you past the plentiful potholes of various shapes and sizes as well as the mud and large puddles and flooded roads following a rainstorm.

Recent trip driving back from Dzalanyama Forest Lodge a couple hours outside Lilongwe

Also, it is probably best to avoid driving at night because street lights are hard to come by and often times people will be walking on the roads at night or on a bike and you'll barely notice them. On a quick side note, if you're ever driving in Malawi and happen to strike a person, don't stop to try and help the individual. Instead, drive off and go to the police station to report the incident. If you stay, your life can be at risk and crowds will gather soon enough and likely break your car or throw stones at you. So yeah, don't stop even though that might be your initial instinct. Back to the issues with poor infrastructure and cost, the vast majority if not all jet fuel needs to be transported via road and rail from the ports. Oftentimes, the fuel has to be transported thousands of miles by land crossing multiple countries, which each may incur customs related and toll fees to be paid. This all adds to the price of the fuel, and ultimately all these costs trickling down to the passengers' wallets. This doesn't affect only the African or local airlines in these countries but all airlines that fly in and out. They have to refuel, and this applies to maintenance parts too.

In addition, low demand of air travel in Africa translates to low supply of the service. Despite having a population of over 1 billion, Africa only has 1% of the world's air traffic. It's not uncommon to fly in a plane with several empty seats on it. However, the fact that you and I need to fly, we have to take on the cost of those empty seats. Fixed costs have to be met before the flight takes off. And with rising inflation worldwide and strikingly high vehicle fuel costs (currently 1,380 MK per Liter = ~$6.35 USD per Gallon), the prices are just too high. There is also a major issue of fuel shortages that have lead to substantially spiked prices over a short period of time and a detrimental effect on agencies to conduct field work activities critical to the mission. Due to fuel shortages and unreliability in access in several areas outside Lilongwe, motor pool ride services utilized for work travel within country has been put on pause for the last two weeks and counting.

Finally, one of the most frustrating factors is the fact that there are simply a lack of sufficient direct flight options. Sadly, many governments don't have bilateral agreements with their neighbors, so the national carriers and largest airlines don't even fly to neighboring countries. Outside the country, you can only fly directly to Johannesburg, Lusaka, Nairobi, and Addis Ababa from Lilongwe, but the flights to some of those places are only offered a couple times a week or one time per day max. Before the pandemic, flights and cost of travel to Johannesburg for example were reasonable in comparison. Now, it's oftentimes cheaper to fly through Addis and then back down to Johannesburg, which may add 10+ hours of travel time. Africa seriously needs to come together as a cohesive entity and agree to invest much more in transportation infrastructure to drop the prices down.

So what can be done by government entities across the continent to address this troubling issue concerning transportation barriers? Well here are just a few ideas:

-They need to create free or cheaper airspace for one another

-The governments should encourage national carriers for each country

-The creation of sub-regional and continental agreements to create an enabling environment for newcomers into the sector

-Creation of other alternatives like the railways so that the air will not be seen as the only way, this will also bring competition

-The business gurus should invest heavily in the African airspace

-The visa requirements should be reviewed to make trips to African countries easier because the lesser the visa hassles, the more people travel to these countries

-The governments should invest more in infrastructures to ease the burdens in the travel sector

-The government should create more incentives for the travel sector to encourage more investors

(https://bit.ly/3vRmUi9)

While the pandemic is surely to blame to some extent, there is a much larger issue that has been existent since before 2020 that needs serious attention. Wages are not increasing in line with the rate of increase of inflation and something as essential as owning a car becomes nearly impossible when fuel costs can be upwards of 40% of one's income. Will we gradually see change and prices start to fall and demand increase or will prices only continue to go up and the larger problem be exacerbated? The future will only tell us which direction the continent goes.

I'll just leave you with this video taken from a flight from Brussels, Belgium to Monrovia, Liberia earlier this week that had to be diverted due to a complete power outage at the Liberian airport, which shutdown all communications with air traffic control.