Tomorrow’s trans-Atlantic partners: Africa and Brazil
From collaborating on improving agricultural technologies to sharing knowledge on tropical medicine, the partnership between Brazil and African nations has been growing rapidly in recent years.
Brazil’s trade with Sub-Saharan Africa increased from 2 billion US dollars to 12 billion between 2000 and 2010 reflecting the healthy trade relationship between Brazil and African countries.
Evolving from the agricultural sector and evolving into tourism, the Latin American giant is now partnering with the African continent to improve flight routes between the two destinations.
As an example, Royal Air Maroc is seeking to increase the number of flights and expand its presence in Brazil. The airline is now discussing a partnership with the Brazilian Tourism Institute (Embratur) to increase the numbers of tourists traveling from Morocco to Brazil in time for the upcoming Summer Olympics in Rio de Janiero.
According to the company’s director, Menhi El Yaalaoui, the African market has 500 million consumers and the partnership between Embratur and Royal Air Maroc could benefit both.
Indeed in 2015 the London Stock Exchange saw a sharp rise in African passenger numbers with low-cost airline Fastjet setting a new record for a single month with 71,763 passengers flown in July.
The President of the Nigerian-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NBCCI), Emmanuel Ibru, also supports the idea of better transportation links saying that the absence of direct flights between Nigeria and Brazil is a major hindrance to trade between the two countries. He comments,
“It currently takes about 14 hours to travel to Brazil from Nigeria as a result of taking connecting flights, instead of the six hour direct flight which would be possible with the introduction of direct routes.”
In 2015 the largest and most profitable airline in Africa as ranked by IATA, Ethiopian Airlines, launched a non-stop flight from Addis Ababa to Sao Paulo. The service, its first to South America, runs thrice weekly not only improving the connectivity between Brazil and Africa, the flight will enhance travel on the China-Africa-Brazil trade lane.
With global air passenger traffic up by 8.6 percent in 2015 as according to the report released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and an increased demand for both domestic and international flights, now is a great time to introduce new routes across the Atlantic.
Capital and the largest city of Rio Grande do Norte state, Natal, stands out from the other cities in Brazil by enjoying the closest proximity not only to Europe but to Africa meaning that the continent can be reached in as little as 6 hours.
CEO of a multi award-winning developer Ritz-G5, based in northeast of Brazil, Luiz Fernandes, is positive about the blossoming trade between Africa and Brazil,
“Africa is a strong and promising continent and it is great to see new trade relationships developing between Brazil and many African nations. Introducing new direct flight routes will also increase the number of African tourists visiting Brazil and we look forward to welcoming them to the capital of Rio Grande do Norte, the City of the Sun, Natal.”
For more information on the new flight routes between Africa and Brazil, contact the Ritz-G5 team on +44 207 183 7565 or visit www.ritz-g5.com.
