(Ecofin Agency) - It is more than likely that Kenya will soon be connected to the USA through direct flights. “We shall get direct flights to the US by May this year considering that we cleared most of the audits required”, Kenya’s minister of transport, James Macharia, said in local news.

It should be recalled that during his recent visit to Kenya, President Barack Obama mentioned this. “Our governments are working together to have these direct flights.However, they are strict protocols to respect. I will not to give any date as to when this will happen, lest you might say later that I lied,” he said at the time.

Achieving this would allow Kenya Airways to grab a significant share of the American flight market. In fact, a study published in 2015 the Rockefeller Foundation and Aspen institute Diaspora Program (RAD) revealed that there is a relatively high concentration of Kenyan immigrants in the United States (about 102,000 people with an average revenue of $11,000 each per annum) all eager to visit their country.

However, Kenya does not seem to want to stop just at that. Indeed, behind the scenes, there are rumors of ongoing talks regarding the establishment of direct lines between Nairobi and Tokyo to benefit from the growing trade between Africa and Extreme east. In the case whereby the US authorities sign the agreement, the Jomo Kenyatta international airport will join the Addis Ababa, Johannesburg, Lagos, or Cape Verde airports which are for now the only Category 1 airports in Africa.

Idriss Linge