Founding and operating one of Africa’s leading Infrastructure consultancy firms led me to areas of Africa I could have only dreamt about reaching as a child. I decided to become a Civil Engineer specifically because I wanted to come back to and help rebuild our continent considering the lack of adequate infrastructure, poor healthcare & sanitation, low access to electricity and poor access to water. These are all things I consider basic human rights that all natural persons must have access to. Unfortunately, with all the natural resources and impeccable young and innovative human resource potential of the continent, African countries are still ranked as the poorest in the world in terms of infrastructure connectivity, transportation and ease of movement across neighboring countries.

 

Traveling across the region while conducting assessments of road networks and engineering design studies for highways, I realized the invaluable role women play in the production and transportation of goods that travel from isolated rural areas, under difficult conditions to the cities for local consumption and export.

 

Often, the roads are in terrible conditions during the raining season due to poor maintenance. This leads to frequent breakdowns of vehicles, accidents, and worst of all loss of lives. The vehicles traversing these road networks are often carrying perishable goods that tend to rot during transportation if there is a breakdown of vehicles or failure of a bridge or culvert that makes the road impassable.

 

It was very difficult for me to watch these “market women” travel under such terrible conditions in the backs of these old vehicles on poorly maintained roads. It was even more disheartening to watch their hard-earned goods rot away with no way to assist or help. One could see the disappointment, misery, sense of helplessness on their faces and in their expressions as they stare at us drive pass by in our supped-up SUVs and just manage to squeeze by their broken-down vehicles and make it through to continue on our journey. Those were the moments that made me want to do more. They reassured me of my purpose for wanting to return to Africa and make a difference.

 

However, even with those subtle thoughts of comfort, I could only think of my late father who often told me that my grandmother was a “market woman” like those same women. I knew I had to do something to try and make a difference in ensuring that goods are a efficiently transported across the region.  

 

Our region was hit with the deadly Ebola virus and then subsequently the whole world suffered the effects of the Covid epidemic. I personally saw how these bottlenecks in the delivery of vital medications caused many people to suffer and die due to lack of adequate infrastructure to reach rural areas. With the understanding I had of the slow pace of development of our infrastructure on the continent and all the challenges it faces, I realized that we had to come up with other solutions if we truly wanted to see efficient, safe and affordable transportation of goods across the region.

 

I was on a mission to transform our region’s freight transportation, and I was fully committed to it.

 

As an avid aviator and a licensed US FAA commercial pilot, I believe aviation can be a game-changer by providing a quicker and more dependable means of transporting commodities from one nation to another. Thus, the concept for Amara Air was created.

 

I committed all my time, heart, and resources to realizing my goal. I assembled a group of committed people who are just as passionate to the same goal. We put forth a lot of effort as a team to make Amara Air the first cargo-focused airline in West Africa and beyond. Our goal is to offer straightforward solutions for the efficient cross-border transportation of commodities.

 

In addition to transforming the way commodities are delivered globally as Amara Air flies to new heights, we want to open up innumerable doors for economic growth and development. Flights that are trustworthy and safe will take the place of the previous unreliable and dangerous trips.

 

As brilliantly stated by our Founding Chairman and Director, we are not in the aviation business. We are primarily a logistics company utilizing the friendly skies to make logistics accessible, safe and affordable to all of our people.

We serve as the region’s “Air Bridge” linking land locked countries to the rest of the world. Making a difference in our region and beyond is part of our ambition, which goes beyond simple commercial success. We are contributing to the development and well-being of Africa through Amara Air, giving people hope for a better future.