Air Burkina: Despite the delay, the privatization process will soon be completed
On October 20, 2020, the Burkinabè state signed a partnership agreement with African Global Development (AGD) for the partial privatization of Air Burkina.
The boss of the American company was in Ouagadougou this week for the presentation of his five-year plan.
The process of acquiring Air Burkina by African Global Development (AGD) is in its final stages. This is what the CEO of the private American company suggested on Thursday, March 25, at the end of a hearing granted to him by the Prime Minister of Burkina Faso, Christophe Joseph Marie Dabiré.
“We are in an acquisition process, and very soon we will complete this transaction,” said Phil Smartt. He was accompanied for the occasion by the general manager of Air Burkina, Blaise SANOU and the Minister of Transport, Vincent Dabilgou. This acquisition should in principle be recorded as of January 1, 2021. This is in any case what the two parties had promised on October 20, 2020, when the partnership agreement was signed. “After signing the acquisition agreement, the legal process will begin and will last approximately two months. It is at the end of this stage that new planes will come to reinforce the Air Burkina fleet, which will pass from the regime of state-owned company to the regime of private company”, specified AGD.
Despite the delay, the process appears to be on the right track. Moreover, during the meeting on Thursday, Phil Smartt discussed with the Head of Government on the five-year business plan that his group is proposing in the process of taking over the Burkinabè national company. For the moment, the communication unit of the first ministry does not give any details on the content of this plan. But from what we already know, AGD will inject 250 billion FCFA (452 million USD) into the capital of Air Burkina, for the acquisition of 12 planes - including Airbus planes, the launch of routes to the Europe, and the opening of an aircraft maintenance center in Ouagadougou.
