The ministers responsible for civil aviation in Central Africa met in Douala on 4 June for the 6th extraordinary session of the ASSA-AC Committee. Chaired by Herbert Gontran Djono Ahaba of the Central African Republic, they adopted new regulations, discussed the collection of the Regional Aviation Safety Charge (RSAR) and tackled the training of technical executives.
The sixth extraordinary session of the Committee of Ministers of the Central African Aviation Safety Supervisory Agency (ASSA-AC), a specialised agency of the Central African Economic Union (UEAC), was held on 04 June 2025 in Douala under the chairmanship of Herbert Gontran Djono-Ahaba, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation of the Central African Republic and current Chairman of the Committee of Ministers.
It’s also time to audit the agency, because it’s been a long time since the agency has been audited. For the credibility of the agency’s management, and I think that the committee of ministers is going to take a decision, a recommendation allowing a consultancy firm to give credibility to the management so that we can turn to our technical and financial partners in the sub-region to support the agency in implementing the objectives that we have set ourselves ».
Hubert Gontran DJONO AHABA, Chairman of the ASSA-AC Committee of Ministers – Central African Republic
In his opening speech, the Republic of Cameroon’s Minister of Transport, Jean Ernest Masséna NGALLE BIBEHE, welcomed the presence of his counterparts in Cameroon’s economic capital and praised the progress made by the Agency.
The city of Douala is honoured to host our work, which comes at a key moment for our community, marked by significant progress in several structuring projects, in particular the implementation of the regional air safety charge. I therefore express the hope that this extraordinary session will mark a decisive turning point in the process of consolidating the ASSA-AC as the technical pillar of our sub-regional integration ».
Jean Ernest Masséna Ngalle Bibéhè, Minister of Transport – Cameroon
The ministerial meeting focused on a number of strategic issues, in particular the signing of new Community regulations, the effective implementation of the collection of the regional aviation safety charge (RSAR) and the training of specialist staff to remedy the shortage of qualified technical personnel in the Member States.
We are going to finance training courses for young people from our countries. These are initial training courses lasting nine months and another three years, paid for entirely by the Agency, i.e. school fees, living expenses and even travel expenses to the CCA training school ».
Eugène APOMBI, Managing Director, ASSA-AC – Central African Republic
Discussions also took place on assistance to States for the implementation of their corrective action plans resulting from audits by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). The ministers responsible for civil aviation in each member state adopted consensus resolutions. The aim of these resolutions is to improve aviation safety supervision in the CEMAC zone and to ensure the smooth operation of the ASSA-AC.
