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AFRAA’s Abderahmane Berthe addresses his organization’s MRO conference.
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia—African aviation leaders delivered a clear message in Addis Ababa on March 30: Without decisive investment in MRO capability, the continent’s airlines will struggle to compete on the global stage.
Speaking at the inaugural African Airlines Association (AFRAA) MRO conference, Ethiopian Airlines CEO Mesfin Tasew and Abderahmane Berthe, secretary general of AFRAA, set out a clear path toward building a self-sustaining MRO ecosystem as the continent looks to capture more value from its rapidly growing air transport market.
Rather than revisiting familiar challenges, both executives emphasized coordinated action and investment as the levers for change. “I believe we need a network of MRO service providers across Africa to effectively support the needs of African airlines,” Tasew said, framing continental scale as a prerequisite for competitiveness.
“The global MRO industry has become a seller’s market, unfortunately, for reasons linked to supply chain issues,” Tasew added. He stressed that African airlines are hit hardest, lacking both continent-wide MRO infrastructure and the bargaining power to negotiate effectively due to their smaller scale.
Berthe said that fragmentation must give way to alignment across the value chain. “The time is now to strategically enhance and increase our continent’s capabilities. By sustainable, we mean an ecosystem that is economically viable and reducing reliance on costly external services,” he said. AFRAA’s head called for joint efforts between airlines, OEMs, regulators, training institutions, and financial partners. Intra-African partnerships, he added, will be essential to accelerate capability development and unlock scale.
A central pillar of the proposed solution is retaining more value within the continent. “Each year, African airlines spend billions of dollars on aircraft maintenance, and a large portion of that expenditure still leaves the continent,” Berthe noted. Redirecting even a portion of that spend into local capacity would have a multiplier effect—supporting job creation, strengthening supply chains, and underpinning industrial growth. “In short, investing in MRO is investing in Africa’s industrial future,” he noted.
Beyond infrastructure, both speakers highlighted the need to rethink commercial frameworks. Tasew pointed to the importance of “the right and balanced service contracts with manufacturers and the MRO services providers,” suggesting that better-structured agreements could help airlines manage costs and improve access to critical services in a tight global market.
Technology is another area where African operators are being urged to leapfrog rather than follow. Berthe stressed that digital tools are already reshaping maintenance globally, pointing to predictive maintenance, big data, artificial intelligence, and digital platforms as enablers of improved reliability and reduced downtime. Adoption of these technologies, he argued, will be critical if African MRO providers are to compete effectively on quality and turnaround times.
Equally, the long-term sustainability of any MRO strategy will depend on human capital. Berthe emphasized the need for a pipeline of skilled engineers and technicians, calling for investment in training and retention. Institutions such as Ethiopian Aviation University were cited as examples of how the continent can build indigenous capability at scale.
Tasew reinforced this point indirectly by highlighting Ethiopian Airlines’ own experience. The carrier’s in-house MRO capabilities span airframe, engine and component support built through sustained investment in technology, facilities, human capital and innovation. The result is not only self-sufficiency, but the ability to serve third-party customers across Africa and the Middle East, offering a practical model for others to emulate.
Africa’s MRO deficit may be well documented, but the emphasis is now firmly on execution. The message from Addis Ababa to African stakeholders was clear: Keep the money, build the skills, adopt the tech and collaborate so that Africa can own and sustain its aviation growth.
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