(Ecofin Agency) - Ghana has signed a partnership agreement with Ethiopian Airlines to launch a new public airlines company. This was announced by Tewolde Gebremariam (photo), Ethiopian Airlines’ CEO, last week.

The new entity will be 51% owned by Ghana and its private sector while 49% will go to Ethiopian Airlines. In a bid to restrict the government's authority on the new company, Ghana’s stake in it would be later capped at 10%.

Amid African airspaces’ interconnection process, the new operation is aimed at boosting the presence of local airlines in the continental market. Currently, just 20% of the market is served by local firms. “This has to change. It has to be at least fifty-fifty. Till we Africans cooperate and change the diminishing market share of African airlines, there will not be any homegrown airlines after ten years,” Tewolde Gebremariam said.

Moutiou Adjibi Nourou