Signing Ceremony for the Establishment of the BAGASOO and the BAGAIA, Montreal, Canada, 30 June 2009
From left to right: H.E. Lamin A. Bojang, Minister of Works, Construction and Infrastructure Development in Gambia, H.E. Dzifa Attivor, Deputy Minister of Transport in Ghana, H.E. Momodou Allieu Pat-Sowe, Minister of Transport and Aviation in Sierra Leone, H.E. G. Alphonso Gaye, Minister of Transport in Liberia, H.E. Babatunde Omotoba, Minister of Aviation in Nigeria, Mr. Abdoulaye Djibril Camara, Director General of Civil Aviation Authority in Guinea, Mr. Carlos Monteiro, Director General of Civil Aviation Authority in Cape Verde. Standing (right) is Aisatou Jallow-Sey, Head of Legal Division, Gambia CAA |
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On 30 June 2009, the Ministers responsible for civil Aviation in the seven Banjul Accord Group (BAG), Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, on the invitation of the President of the ICAO Council and the Secretary General of ICAO, signed the Agreement documents for the establishment of the Banjul Accord Group Aviation Safety Oversight Organization (BAGASOO) and the Banjul Accord Group Accident Investigation Agency (BAGAIA).
The objective of establishing these two bodies for aviation safety oversight and aircraft accident investigation is to strengthen the safety oversight and accident investigation capabilities of the BAG Member States and enable compliance with international requirements. It is expected that both these organizations will make a significant contribution to aviation safety within the BAG sub-region and, consequently, to the economies of the BAG Member States and Africa as a whole.
The signing of the BAGASOO and the BAGAIA Agreements represents the culmination of a process that involved the development of the frameworks and supporting operational documents for both regional bodies, through close collaboration between the BAG Member States and ICAO’s AFI Comprehensive Implementation Programme (ACIP).
That the entire process of developing the framework documents for the BAGASOO and the BAGAIA took less than five months, was an astonishing feat in itself and speaks highly of the level of commitment shown by the BAG States towards strengthening a collective approach to resolving safety and safety oversight deficiencies in the sub-region.
The close collaboration between the ACIP Team and the BAG member States resulted in the development of frameworks that will serve as an example of cooperation and as useful guidance in other regions of the continent.
