The national carrier, RwandaAir, on Saturday started flying to Juba, the South Sudanese capital.This is the latest among the Airline’s new destinations across Africa and beyond.This new route comes with enormous opportunities for the business operators in the country. The business fraternity should take advantage of this opportunity to tap into the markets in South Sudan.South Sudan, which is the newest member of the African Union, boasts of opportunities, especially in terms of a big market potential, which is presented in the close to 10 million residents of the land locked country.It is equally promising that South Sudan’s candidature to join the East African Community is being considered seriously by partner states. Rwanda is a member of the EAC bloc, the new route by RwandAir, gives the business community the opportunity to seize business partnerships with other partners in South Sudan. By the time South Sudan is admitted into the EAC, our business partnership with them should be solid and vibrant.However as we continue to have growing intra-connections between African cities, there is an urgent need, by both policymakers and airlines to make air transport affordable. Air transport remains largely expensive especially on this continent, as compared to others.This is compounded by challenges of the regional road network which remains in a poor state and under-developed. Measures to make air transport affordable will go a long way in improving trade within the region.
