CANSO Africa Conference 2025: Charting a clear path for Africa’s future skies

The atmosphere in Nairobi, Kenya, was vibrant as more than 150 senior representatives from ANSPs, CAAs, airlines, and regional bodies gathered for the CANSO Africa Conference 2025.

One of the Conference’s many sessions, moderated by CANSO’s Nicki Harricharan, Operations Programme Manager,  and Eduardo García, Senior Manager Future Skies, explored how Africa can translate the Complete Air Traffic System (CATS) Concept of Operations (CONOPS) into practical regional action.

With the support of four regional champions – Joyce Asante, Director Air Traffic Safety Engineering at Ghana Civil Aviation Authority, Flora Mwanshinga, Director Air Navigation Services at Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority, Anne Gitau, Director Air Navigation Services at Kenya Civil Aviation Authority and Josia Manyakoana, Interim Chief Air Traffic Services Officer at ATNS – participants undertook a “shared reality check” on Africa’s most pressing ATM challenges: fragmented planning, political complexity, workforce constraints, and critical infrastructure gaps. Through candid dialogue and collaborative interaction, the group identified concrete priorities: harmonising national and regional plans, strengthening civil-military cooperation, building next-generation skills, and accelerating digital infrastructure investments.

The session resulted in a commitment to create a technical task force to develop the CATS Africa Work Programme (2026–2028), ensuring that Africa’s skies advance in unison with ICAO’s Global Air Navigation Plan and the CATS Vision 2045.

The momentum of the session reflected the wider theme of the conference – Future Skies for Africa: Enhancing Alignment, Collaboration, and Implementation. As Tim Arel, Chair of the CANSO Executive Committee, observed: “By focusing on collaboration, innovation, and leadership, we can collectively ensure a safer, more efficient, and future-ready aviation system.” Maartje van der Helm, Chair of the CANSO Operations Standing Committee (OSC), echoed this commitment, highlighting how the OSC is supporting the CATS programme and vision with practical guidance and operational expertise.

With strong regional engagement and global support, the CANSO Africa Conference 2025 demonstrated that Africa is ready to lead in shaping a connected, resilient, and digitally enabled aviation future.