Partnership and Investment Opportunity in the Aviation Business in Tanzania

Munawer Dhirani, Managing Director of Flightlink, talks about partnership and investment opportunity within Flightlink and the aviation business in Tanzania.

“Our ambition is to grow. Partnership can come in different forms. It can come through equity partnership, equipment partnership, or joint ventures. The method does not matter, so long as we achieve our ambition. This year, we have not been looking for partners. Now, we are working more with the banks. Financing is a problem in Tanzania because most of the banks do not understand aircraft finance. The aviation market is quite small here compared to South Africa. There is not much know-how. Flightlink should look for partners or joint ventures to compensate for the limitations of our banks. Because of the collapse of one or two airlines in the past, it is assumed that there is a very high risk. But aviation is a very good, high-yield business. There is a need for more charter flights here. Tanzania has many NGO’s and foreign development personnel that require the ability to travel from region to region. We do not have enough airplanes to accommodate them. If we have enough equipment, we can tap into those markets. Tanzania is a vast country. Going from Dar es Salaam to Kigoma with a turboprop aircraft is a minimum three and a half hour long flight. Any charter operator today in the world will agree that this is a high-yield, very profitable business”, says Munawer Dhirani.

“The current rate of return of any investment into aviation in Tanzania with Flightlink is very good. The biggest investment we have met is 1.5 million dollars from the bank, with a rate of return of five years. In five years, you can double your money. Tanzania is still developing, so there is room for improvement. In five years’ time, Tanzania will be a different country”, he adds.