Air Mauritius (MK, Mauritius) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Ghanaian government over the provision of expertise in the establishment of a new Ghanaian national carrier.
The agreement was signed in Port Louis last week following a visit by Ghana's Minister for Aviation, Cecilia Abena Dapaah, and her team. During the week-long stay, Dapaah held talks with Air Mauritius executives following which the preliminary agreement was signed on Thursday, August 31.
"This is a first," Arjoon Suddhoo, Chairman of the Board of Air Mauritius, said in a statement issued after the signing ceremony. "Ghanaians are very interested in the model of Air Mauritius, which is a company whose majority shareholder is the government. It is also listed on the Mauritius Stock Exchange. We are a commercial aviation company that creates value for our shareholders. We also have a mandate to contribute to the development of the country."
Ghana is said to have also agreed on a business plan for Air Mauritius to expand in Africa. Presumably, this means the use of Accra to some degree or other.
For its part, Ghana is in the process of reestablishing a new national carrier aimed at developing the West African state's domestic, regional, and international connectivity. It is expected to launch by 2019. Earlier this year, Dapaah confirmed talks with both the Mauritians as well as Ethiopian Airlines (ET, Addis Ababa International) over the role of consultants in the project. Ethiopian is already established in the region through ASKY Airlines (KP, Lomé) and tentatively, through Nigeria's Arik Air (W3, Lagos).
