Air Passengers’ Rights in Africa: Development, Enforcement and Challenges

This article appraises air passengers’ rights in Africa by 
critiquing the development of the rights, enforcement and 
challenges faced in implementation of the rights. Using a 
doctrinal method, five African states are selected along 
geographical regional lines with each state representing a 
Regional Economic Community (REC) in the African 
Union (AU). The article finds that the passengers’ rights 
in African states developed through international law and 
foreign jurisprudence. The adoption and legal transplant, 
however, pose challenges in effective implementation of 
the laws due to lack of adequate infrastructure in African 
states, and low capacity of African air carriers. To ensure 
the sustainability of air passengers’ rights protection in 
Africa, the article proposes among others, government 
assistance, regulators’ evaluation of practicability of 
compliance, and harmonisation of national laws with the 
Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) framework.