THE GAMBIA: U.S. FIRM'S INTEREST IN LEASING

C O N F I D E N T I A L BANJUL 000068 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR AF/W, AF/EPS FAA FOR AIA TRANSPORTATION FOR OST UNTER BRUSSELS FOR FELDMAN DAKAR FOR FAA JONES MONTREAL FOR USICAO E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/08/2016 TAGS: EAIR ETRD KTIA PIRN EINV GA GH SUBJECT: THE GAMBIA: U.S. FIRM'S INTEREST IN LEASING AIRCRAFT, ASSESSMENT OF CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY REF: BANJUL 10 ET AL (NOTAL) Classified By: Amb Joseph D. Stafford for reason 1.4 (B and D) 1.(U) This message contains proprietary information. Please protect accordingly. U.S. FIRM'S INTEREST IN AIRCRAFT LEASING DEAL -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Ambassador met recently with the visiting President and Vice President of an American firm, Jetstream; the latter indicated interest in a deal to lease two passenger aircraft to the Gambian International Airlines (GIA) under a wet-lease arrangement. The Jetstream reps, noting that GIA currently has no aircraft at its disposal, said GIA wished to establish itself as a carrier on routes in West Africa and perhaps elsewhere in Africa. The visitors were cautious about prospects of closing a deal with GIA, saying it was now up the latter to come up with required funds for leasing; they expressed interest in staying in touch with the Embassy as discussions with GIA continued. UPBEAT ASSESSMENT OF THE GAMBIAN CIVIL AVIATION SECTOR -------------- -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Noteworthy was the visitors' upbeat assessment of the staffs at the Gambia Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) as well as GIA. The Jetstream reps said they had come away from their meetings at GCAA and GIA impressed by their interlocutors' expertise and professionalism, describing them as a "cut above" officials in similar positions they had encountered elsewhere in West Africa (they cited Ghana, in particular). The visitors paid special tribute to the U.S.-trained acting GCAA Director, Paul Bass, saying he displayed not only strong technical expertise in the civil aviation field but also a good sense of the commercial aspect of airline operations. ¶4. (SBU) The Jetstream reps asserted that the GCAA and GIA officials they encountered also compared favorably with their counterparts elsewhere in the region (they again cited Ghana) in not making even veiled requests for kickbacks or other blandishments in order to facilitate a deal. COMMENT -------------- ¶5. (C) It remains to be seen whether the GIA, a public enterprise, will manage to come up with the funds -- whether from government coffers or elsewhere -- to close a deal with Jetstream. Meanwhile, given the mixed reviews we have previously received about the performance of acting GCAA head Bass (reftel),we were struck by the visitors' enthusiastically positive assessment -- which gives grounds for optimism about the GCAA's prospects for continued cooperation with FAA and achievement of Category One status. While we defer to Embassy Accra, we must confess to skepticism about the visitors' unfavorable comparison of Ghana's civil aviation sector with The Gambia's, given what we assume is the former's considerably higher level of development in this sector as well as its much higher anti-corruption marks generally from Transparency International, for example, as compared to The Gambia. END COMMENT. STAFFORD