SAA is considering buying a
stake in Senegal Airlines, SAA
spokesperson, Tlali Tlali, has
conrmed.
“We have been approached
by the Senegalese authorities
and an offer was presented
to us. The matter is currently
under consideration and no
decision has been made,” he
said.
While Tlali said he could not
discuss any details at this
stage, Bloomberg reported that
Senegal had received bids for
the purchase of at least 30%
of its national carrier.
Reporting the airline’s
nancial results last week, SAA
Group ceo, Monwabisi Kalawe,
said the airline was looking
to establish a West African
hub. According to Tlali, Nigeria,
Senegal and Ghana are the
countries under consideration.
Transport economist,
Joachim Vermooten,
suggested that SAA should
focus on its own restructuring
for the time being.
Joachim said while it
was difcult to assess the
investment, given that its
size and prospects had
not been disclosed, from a
commercial perspective the
conditions in Senegal did
not match those in SA. “SAA
does not have a model it can
export to Senegal that would
not require considerable
investment.” Joachim added
that consideration should
be given to whether South
African taxpayers should be
involved in such an investment
and whether there would be
benets to them.
Joachim pointed out that
with a 30% stake, SAA would
not have management control
of the airline. “As a minority
shareholder in any business,
you are under the control of
the majority shareholder,” he
said, adding that the minority
shareholder would need to be
comfortable with its business
plan and its viability.
Senegal Airlines has a eet
of four aircraft – three Airbus
A320s and an ATR 72-200.
It offers ights to 15 cities
in West African countries
including Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon,
Niger, Mali, Benin and Gambia,
with ights to Belgium through
a codeshare with Brussels
Airlines.
