MOROCCO: Royal Air Maroc (RAM) To Commence Flights To East African Region

Royal Air Maroc (RAM) plans to launch flights to five other East African cities only two years after it began its Casablanca-Nairobi flights.

Country manager Othman Baba said the move, inspired by Nairobi experience, is part of Royal Air Maroc, RAM’s efforts to claw back a share of the intra-African aviation transport which is currently controlled by foreign interests.

Royal Air Maroc (RAM) which joined the 23-member single African air transport market (SAAM) last year, has said it will ride on the continental aviation framework, to speed up regulatory approvals.

It is so far the only North African airline that runs a direct Nairobi—Ndjamena (Chad) flight.

We will be extending operations in East Africa in in the short-term with new destinations like Dar es Salaam, Harare, Kigali, Maputo and Khartoum,said Mr Baba as RAM celebrated its 33rd flight on Nairobi-Casablanca route on Thursday.

With more than 30 destinations in West Africa, it is only natural that RAM has decided to spread into East Africa to sustain its African strategy and underscore Kenya as a regional business hub and gateway.

Mr Baba said exploring new destinations for its clientele has been RAM’s mission since it was formed over 60 years ago.

The airline, which began its Kenyan foray with two weekly fights in 2016, has since adjusted its schedule to three fights a week.

RAM, together with Kenya Airways, Ethiopian, South African and Egypt air are collectively referred to as Africa’s Big Five.

In a continent where state carriers have been blamed for exorbitant fares that drive Africans to foreign airlines, Air Maroc says its key success point remains its low ticket prices.

Mr Baba said RAM has over the years maintained strict control over its costs structure and processes, resulting in lower ticket price and cargo tariffs especially in the last 15 years.


Tourism Observer

TANZANIA: Minister Appoints Mr. Hamza Johari New Director General At The Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority

Tanzania's Minister for Works, Transport and Communication, Prof. Makame Mbarawa, yesterday announced the appointment of Mr. Hamza Johari as the new substantive Director General of the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority. The appointment is said to be effective 22nd of February.

Mr. Johari replaces Acting DG R. Bugomola who had himself replaced former Acting DG Charles Chacha, who was interdicted on charges of irregular procurement and financial transactions.

Mr. Johari holds a Master Degree in International Air Law and in fact lectured part time and the University of Dar es Salaam besides serving for the past decade as Executive Secretary of the TCAA Consumer Consultative Council.

Tanzania's aviation industry is in a state of flux with national airline Air Tanzania nearly broke, Precision Air still suffering losses and LCC Fastjet Tanzania, while in the meantime carrying the largest number of passengers, also still moving towards financial breakeven point.

Local airlines like Coastal Aviation and Auric Air, using small turboprop single and twin engine aircraft, successfully serve national parks, the Tanzanian Indian Ocean islands and key secondary and tertiary towns across the country while international routes are, apart from Fastjet's African destinations, served by airlines like Qatar Airways, Emirates, Etihad, FlyDubai, KLM, Swiss and South African.

Tanzania has invested heavily in infrastructure improvements in recent years, not only in Dar es Salaam where a new passenger terminal is nearing completion, but across the country with expanded and re-surfaced runways and renovations and modernization of terminal buildings and navigational equipment.

The minister for Works, Transport and Communications, Prof Makame Mbarawa, made the appointment in line with section 33(1) of the Civil Aviation Act (as amended in 2006).

Mr Johari, according to the ministry press statement, replaced Mr Redemptus Bugomola who was acting after suspension of another acting Mr Charles Chacha for massive financial and procurement irregularities.

According to Prof Mbarawa, the appointment took effect since Monday 22. Mr Johari, who holds a master's degree in International Laws major in International Air Laws, told Daily News immediately after his appointment that he will work hard to bring real change in the aviation industry.

“I humbly thank the minister. I feel honoured,” Mr Johari said “I will not let him down. “What we need is a massive change in aviation industry that way supporting economic growth,” Mr Johari said over the phone.

Prior to his appointment, new DG was the executive secretary of TCAA consumer consultative council for some ten years. He is also lecturing International Laws of Carriage (Transport Laws) at University of Dar es Salaam. And a member of Tanzania-Malawi boarder dispute committee.

Mr Chacha was suspended along with two other senior officials had been transferred following discovery of massive financial and procurement irregularities at the authority.

The TCAA officials who assigned other duties are; Principal Treasurer, Mr Said Mteule and the Procurement Manager, Mr Said Kaswella to pave way for further investigations into the said irregularities.

SOUTH AFRICA: Fast Food Meals Hurting South African Kids

If you have visited South Africa, your first observation would be how weighty every South African is. The weight problems among SA kids have been attributed to poor diets and not enough physical activity.

Because South Africans has a significant weight problem, with around one quarter of the population being obese, most notably among South African women, where 38% are obese, and 70% regarded as overweight, South African children were the third most obese in the world.

One of the biggest contributors to unhealthy eating is fast food, packed with saturated fats, and high carbohydrate and salt content. South Africa has well over 4,500 local and international fast food franchises in the country, with more brands expected to open up outlets in the future.

Previous data compiled by BusinessTech showed that some of South Africa’s worst offenders provided meals that took up half of an adult’s daily kilojoule needs – with some stretching far past that.

These are the worst meals available from SA fast food outlets for your kids.

It keeps me wondering aloud ” Do they enjoy being overweight?

South Africans love their fast-food, so much so that we’ve eaten our way to becoming one of the most obese nations in the world.

The Lancet issued research by the Global Burden of Disease in 2014 listing the obesity ratings of 188 countries across the globe – and South Africa ranked highly, as one of the most obese nations.

According to the research report, 38.8% of all men over the age of 20 are considered overweight and obese – of these, 13.5% are categorised as obese.

For women, the figures are even worse – with 69.3% of women over the age of 20 considered overweight and obese, of which 42% obese.

While these are not the highest stats in the world (an ‘honour’ which belongs to nations such as the USA, and Mexico) this does make South Africa by far the fattest country in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Fast food, fatty meals

One of the most commonly cited reasons for South African’s growing obesity problem is the ‘westernisation’ and urbanisation of the population.

Fast-paced urban lifestyles don’t leave much room for physical activity, and increasingly put people into contact with fast-food, which often carries high fat, sugar and salt content.

While bodies vary, based on normal BMI the average man should ingest around 2,400 Calories (or kilocalories) a day, and the average woman around 2,000 Calories.

These meals listed below are the most fattening items from a number of popular South African fast-food chains which, in some cases, could fill the recommended daily intake (RDI) quota in one meal.

BusinessTech counts the calories of some of South Africa’s most loved fast-food meals.