NEW COMESA AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL CENTRE GOES TO RWANDA
The COMESA Secretariat, based in Lusaka / Zambia, has yesterday signed an agreement to establish an air traffic control centre in ‘the land of a thousand hills’, following extensive prior discussions between the two parties. COMESA, which extends from Egypt to Zambia and from Kenya to Congo, will build the new centre in the town of Karisimbi / Northern Rwanda, where the government already operates a major communications centre of its own, i.e. providing much needed infrastructure for the project.
Air space management will be vested in the new facility for COMESA member states as will other related functions of navigation control services.
The project was strongly lobbied for by a number of other countries too and it is gratifying for Rwanda to have been chosen over other – arguably more advanced ‘aviation countries’ in the region.
It was not immediately possible to ascertain how many position the centre will provide for competent staff, who are to be recruited from both Rwanda and other COMESA member states.
