International Airport Review
Waheedah Lawal Suleiman
26 August 2026
Waheedah Suleiman, Manager of the Economic Committee for ACI Africa, shares an industry perspective on the economics behind airport competitiveness in Africa.
One of the most common assumptions in airport development is that growth and competitiveness naturally follow investment. Build a larger terminal. Expand capacity. Modernise infrastructure. Improve facilities. The expectation is often that connectivity, traffic and commercial performance will eventually follow.
Sometimes they do. Sometimes they do not.
Over time, I have become convinced of one thing: airports do not become competitive simply because they invest. They become competitive when investment, demand, affordability and commercial sustainability evolve together...
