A top-level meeting between AFRAA and the governor of the Bank of the Republic of Burundi took place recently in order to address the issue of the release of blocked funds for airlines.

AFRAA secretary general  Abderahmane Berthé and director government, legal, and industry affairs  Raphael Kuuchi met the governor of the Central Bank Dieudonné Murengerantwari in the country this week.

Various representatives of AFRAA member airlines with operations in Burundi that are impacted by the blocked funds situation, including Ethiopian Airlines, Kenya Airways, RwandAir, and Uganda Airlines accompanied the delegation.

The deliberations with the governor on how to support the efficient operations of airlines was described as ‘fruitful’. 

Specifically, the bank committed to facilitate the repatriation of the proceeds of airlines’ sales.

“AFRAA appreciates the Burundi governor and his team’s openness to come up with practical solutions to remedy the situation very soon,” said Berthé.

”The issue of blocked funds in many countries is challenging for African airlines. To address the matter, AFRAA has established a Blocked Funds Task Force with some member airlines to engage with the concerned States to unlock the funds.

“AFRAA calls upon governments to consider aviation as a priority sector and reduce the level of blocked funds,” said Berthé.