AfBAA chairperson on why Africa ‘needs’ turboprops

opinion

by Yves Le Marquand

7 September 2026

The Cessna Caravan, or as Lemma calls it “the Land Rover Defender of aircraft”, is the king of the turboprops in Africa.

A “smorgasbord of payload” is how Dawit Lemma, chairperson of the African Business Aviation Association (AfBAA) describes the people and cargo carried by turboprops across the continent. Why? Because unless time is (very) plentiful and a Toyota Land Cruiser is on hand, there is no other viable option.

Poor connectivity drives Africa’s non-scheduled turboprop market. “It’s not as bad as 20 years ago when you’d have to fly from Dakar to Abidjan through Addis or Paris, but it is still very limited within the hubs and even worse domestically and regionally,” says Lemma, who is also founder and MD of Krimson Aviation.

“To supplement that, we have roads and rail, but we don’t have legitimate infrastructure linkages. The only way to get from point A to point B without spending days or hours is by air.”

Even where airlines have done well connecting Africa, passengers still have to fly through major hubs. At the remote end of the spoke, infrastructure can be challenging, runways are short and may be unpaved.

‘Ironically it is not about cost’

“You can’t land a 737 or even a Q400 or ATR in many places,” says Lemma. “That’s where the value of smaller turboprops comes in. They can land on grass, dirt or gravel. Ironically, usage is not about cost as it tends to be more expensive to fly on these charters than commercial. So, movements have got a lot to do with infrastructure and connectivity, or rather the lack of it.”

Africa is home to about 25% of the world’s biodiversity, including one fifth of its bird species. The diversity of payload transported by turboprops in Africa might even surpass it. Lemma has seen it all, from a CEO of a Fortune 500 company, humanitarian aid and anti-poaching, to medical supplies and fuel reserves for a remote mining outpost.

“I’ve seen cases where clients come in on their Gulfstreams or Bombardiers and either they’re not allowed to perform a domestic flight due to cabotage, or the runway won’t allow the aircraft to land, so they jump on a Caravan,” he recalls.

Then at the other end, there is mining, oil and gas. “They’re out in the boonies [remote areas],” says Lemma. “Some of the most interesting charters I’ve seen aren’t even carrying passengers; they’re carrying fuel for generators at the mine – diesel fuel in dangerous goods containers.”

‘Caravan is king’

The Cessna Caravan, or as Lemma calls it “the Land Rover Defender of aircraft”, is the king of the turboprops in Africa.

“It has been around longer, it is robust, it can take a beating. Although it may not be the best performing compared with jets, it has lower [operating] costs in the turboprop segment with higher payload and higher yield,” he says.

Generally, anything with a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 engine performs well in Africa. Featured on 135 aircraft types with more than 60,000 units produced, it is the most widely installed turboprop and turboshaft engine in history. Beechcraft King Airs, Piper M series, Daher Kodiaks and TBMs, de Havilland Canada Twin Otters and Pilatus PC-12s all feature some version of the engine family.

“The PT6 engine is the workhorse of Africa. Interesting fact: I think there are almost 1,800 PT6 engines in Africa. From a pilot mechanic perspective, it is very easy to work on. For example, if you do a hot section borescope inspection and clear it, you don’t have to take things apart,” he says. “Also, the way the engine was designed makes it very easy to maintain. And it is solid, robust and reliable.”

Ageing fleet myth ‘busted’

Africa has long been thought of as the “dumping ground” for old aircraft. Thirty years ago or more, an owner looking to upgrade would likely sell their old aircraft to a buyer in Africa, usually citing a lack of regulation for an easy sale. Now, from a safety, perception and image perspective, things are changing.

“That myth is being busted because a lot of civil aviation authorities are introducing maximum year of manufacture limitations,” says Lemma. “Once upon a time you could land at an airport and see 60-year-old rusting airframes on the ramp. Governments didn’t like that. Now, most states have a maximum manufacturer limitation of between 20 and 25 years to put an aircraft on an AOC.”

Despite this action, it is still very rare to see an aircraft arriving in Africa straight off the factory line. The majority of turboprops entering the market are pre-owned, says Lemma. Internal trading is also uncommon because cross-border transactions are complex. Every i is dotted, every T is crossed, every page is checked and frequently applications must be delivered by hand as digital documentation may not be accepted.

“Deregistering and reregistering between two African civil aviation authorities is very difficult,” says Lemma. “It’s much less complicated to buy an N-registered aircraft in the US, deregister it there and bring it to Ethiopia and reregister it. If I’m in Zambia and want to buy an aircraft from Ethiopia, it might be cheaper, but deregistering from the Ethiopian and reregistering under the Zambian civil aviation authority is a long and complicated experience.”

Centralising regulation

Lemma hopes at least some of the bureaucratic burden can be alleviated should the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) be enacted. The SAATM is a flagship project of the African Union Agenda 2063, aiming to create a single unified air transport market in Africa. According to IATA, 34 countries have signed up to the initiative, representing more than 80% of the existing aviation market in Africa.

“I can only hope the same thing that happened in the US in the ‘60s and Europe in the ‘90s with deregulation will happen across Africa. The will is there but with so many countries it takes time to put everything in place,” says Lemma. “For the business aviation sector, it would ease operations. You want to be able to board your PC-12 or Gulfstream and go from Johannesburg to Nairobi seamlessly. Today, crossing four airspaces means dealing with four different regulations and permits.”

Part of Krimson Aviation’s business is securing overflight permits. Lemma says the company he founded deals with states where in one airspace, the overflight permit is an online application, “click, click, pay, and 15 minutes later you have it”.

Yet the neighbouring state may require the printing of numerous aircraft documents and physically handing them to air traffic services. “And even then it may still take up to 72 hours to have the permit granted because it has to go through other government agencies,” he says.

“And those wheels of government can grind very slowly.”

A smorgasbord is a buffet made up of many small dishes. There is something for everyone. Turboprop payload aside, it is also a good way to describe the African aviation market. Even if today’s regulatory structure means some parts do not work as well as others, one thing is certain: turboprops provide connectivity across the continent where little else can.