Whether African carriers are ready for Offers and Orders moved from the margins to the main stage this week, as the IATA Focus Africa Conference brought together more than 300 aviation leaders, policymakers, and technology providers in Addis Ababa on April 29 and 30.
The two-day event, hosted by Ethiopian Airlines and co-organised by IATA under the theme “Elevating Aviation Safety, Connectivity, and Operational Efficiency in Africa,” served as both a progress report and a reality check for a continent whose aviation sector is growing fast but remains structurally constrained. African air traffic is projected to grow by 21.5 percent in 2026, according to the African Airlines Association (AFRAA). Its Secretary General, speaking at Focus Africa, made clear that growth figures alone tell an incomplete story. Safety, connectivity gaps, and the pace of operational modernisation remain unresolved priorities.
Against that backdrop, one session drew particular attention from the distribution community.
The panel titled “Getting Ready for Offers and Orders Across the Value Chain,” moderated by Diala Halaseh, Regional Head of Distribution and Payments, Africa and Middle East at IATA, brought together Julius Thairu, Chief Commercial and Customer Officer at Kenya Airways; Alem Bayu, Director of Distribution and Corporate Sales at Ethiopian Airlines; Adenike Macaulay, CEO of Wakanow; and Giuseppe Candela, VP Global Sales, Airline and Travel Sellers at TPConnects.
The discussion produced a message that Halaseh described as consistent across all perspectives: the move toward true customer centricity through Offers and Orders has already begun, and the cost of inaction is no longer theoretical. Some carriers and sellers are already realising measurable value from modern retailing capabilities, while others remain on the sidelines. The panel’s message was clear. The risk lies not in moving too slowly, but in not starting at all.Three themes defined the session. First, modern retailing is already generating tangible returns across customer experience, revenue, and operations for those who have committed to it. Second, customer expectations are evolving faster than the supply chain can currently accommodate, making alignment across airlines, sellers, and technology providers an urgent commercial imperative rather than a long-term aspiration. Third, collaboration across the value chain is no longer a strategic option. It is a structural requirement for any player that intends to remain competitive.
The presence of Wakanow on the panel was telling. As one of West Africa’s most prominent online travel agencies, its inclusion reflected a growing recognition that the Offers and Orders conversation in Africa cannot be confined to airlines alone. The OTA and travel seller layer will determine how modern retailing capabilities actually reach the end traveller, and the gaps at that level remain significant.
On the payments side, a separate session surfaced challenges that any distribution modernisation agenda must contend with. Fragmentation across payment systems, currency conversion friction, the repatriation of airline revenues, and regulatory inconsistency across markets continue to create structural drag. IATA’s own initiatives, including IATA Pay and the Integrated Financial Gateway, were cited as frameworks helping carriers align payment acceptance with actual customer preferences, though uptake across African markets remains uneven.
The broader conference mood, captured in sessions and side conversations, reflected a sector that is increasingly aware of the gap between its ambition and its infrastructure. Ethiopia’s passenger numbers alone are projected to triple over the next two decades, according to IATA data shared at the Addis Ababa gathering. The continent’s aviation potential is not in dispute. Focus Africa 2026 made one thing clear: the window for deliberate, structured modernisation is narrowing, and the decisions carriers, sellers, and technology providers make in the next few years will determine who is positioned to capture the growth ahead.
