The yellow fever headache: Yellow Fever Vaccinations Requirements in Africa

For those who have been following news of late, you have probably seen the row between Nigeria and South Africa after some 150 Nigerians were deported from South Africa for allegedly carrying fake yellow fever certificates, an action that prompted retaliatory deportations of South Africans from Nigeria's Murtala Muhammad International Airport.

Yellow fever endemic areas in Africa: If you come from Africa's yellow fever belt, you will always need a yellow fever certificate to travel to almost every African country. Please review the list below for the various requirements on yellow fever vaccinations.

 Many countries still require travelers moving into their countries from countries with risks of transmission to carry yellow fever certificates.

 The countries in Africa considered to be high risk due to high incidences of yellow fever infections include Tanzania, Somalia and Sao Tome and Principe. If you have stayed overnight or longer in these countries, then a yellow fever vaccination will be mandatory as you travel to other countries. 
Vaccination certificates requirements of countries are published by the World Health Organization and it's important for all travellers to carefully review these requirements and get the necessary vaccinations to avoid getting stuck at the airport.  It's also important for travellers to get vaccinated at any of the WHO designated yellow fever vaccinating centres to avoid running into problems over "fake" yellow fever certificates. Sometimes, a naive traveller might decide to take a vaccine at their local hospital, while the vaccine might be valid, the centre and certificate are probably not recognized and designated by WHO and some immigration officials will not recognize such yellow fever certificates and many of them will not bear a stamp in such cases. Always ensure your yellow fever certificate is STAMPED by the authority administering the vaccination. A yellow fever certificate without a stamp will not be considered valid by many authorities and often results in deportations.

A stamped Yellow Fever Certificate

Once administered, a yellow fever vaccine is valid or 10 years! It will be a decade before you are required to take another vaccine so this is not really an inconvenience for travellers frequently hoping from one country to another. Th ey ellow fever jab is however not recommended for those  over the age of  65. So please take your yellow fever vaccines properly and avoid putting your governments at loggerheads :)

Some of the African countries where yellow fever certificates are required include:

• Angola: Yellow Fever Vaccination Certificate Required for ALL travelers over 1 year old. It's also recommended for your own safety to take a Yellow Fever vaccine when visiting Angola as the country is still considered a yellow fever risk due to incidences of the disease in recent years.
• Algeria: Yellow Fever Vaccination required for all travelers over 1 year old arriving from countries with yellow fever infection. Algeria has no yellow fever risks and yellow fever vaccinations not recommended if you are coming from a country that's yellow fever free.
• Benin: A yellow fever certificate is required for ALL travelers over 1 year old. It's also highly recommended for travellers coming from the yellow fever free countries to take the vaccine due to risk of infection.
• Botswana:  A yellow fever vaccination is required for travelers over 1 year of age arriving from or having passed from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission. Travelers from countries that are yellow fever are free do not have to worry as there is no risk for yellow fever transmission in Botswana.
• Burkina Faso: A yellow fever vaccination is required from ALL travelers over 1 year of age. There is also risk of yellow fever transmission in Burkina Faso so it's in the travelers' best interest to ensure they get a yellow a fever vaccine before traveling to Burkina Faso.
• Burundi: A Yellow fever vaccination is required for all travellers over 1 year of age. It's also highly recommended fr travellers to take an initiative to get the vaccine since Burundi is considered by the WHO as having a risk of yellow fever transmission.
• Cameroon: Yellow fever vaccinations required for all travellers over 1 year of age. It's also highly recommended for travellers entering Cameroon to get a yellow fever vaccination due to risk of transmission.
• Central African Republic: Yellow vaccination required for all travellers over 1 year of age. Highly recommended for travellers to ensure they take yellow fever vaccine due to risk of transmission in the country.
• Chad: A yellow fever vaccination is required from travellers arriving from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission. Highly recommended for travellers to get the vaccine due to risk of transmission in Chad.
• Cape Verde: A Yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from travellers arriving from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission. Travellers from countries with no risk of yellow fever transmission do not need yellow fever certificates.
• Comoros: No yellow fever vaccination requirements.
• Congo: Yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from all travellers. Highly recommended for travellers to ensure they take yellow fever vaccine due to risk of transmission in the country.
• Cote d'Ivoire: Yellow fever vaccination certificates required from all travellers over 1 year of age. Highly recommended for travellers to ensure they take yellow fever vaccine due to risk of transmission in the country.
• Yellow vaccine required from all travellers over 1 year of age. Yellow vaccine highly recommended for travellers over 9months old except under the following conditions: Generally, a yellow fever vaccine is not recommended for a traveller whose itinerary is limited the DR Congo's Katanga Province.
• Djibouti: A yellow fever vaccine is required from all travellers arriving from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission.
• Egypt: A Yellow fever vaccination is required from travellers arriving from countries with high risk of yellow fever transmission. All arrivals from Sudan are required to possess either a vaccination certificate or a location certificate issued by a Sudanese official centre stating that they have not been in Sudan south of 15°N within the previous 6 days. Travellers from countries with no yellow fever risk do not have to worry about yellow fever vaccinations.
• Equitorial Guinea: A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from travellers arriving from countries wit risk of yellow fever transmission. Highly recommended for travellers to ensure they take yellow fever vaccine due to risk of transmission in the country.
• Eritrea: Country requirement: a yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from travellers arriving from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission.  Generally not recommended1 for travellers going to the following states: Anseba, Debub, Gash Barka, Mae Kel and Semenawi Keih Bahri.
  Not recommended for all other areas not listed above, including the islands of the Dahlak Archipelagos (Map). 
• Ethiopia: A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from travellers over 1 year of age arriving from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission. Highly recommended for travellers aged 9 months and over  to ensure they take yellow fever vaccine due to risk of transmission in some areas of the country. Generally not recommended1 for travellers whose itineraries are limited to the Afar and Somali provinces (Map).
• Gabon: A yellow fever vaccination certificate  is required for all travellers over 1 year of age. Highly recommended for travellers aged 9 months and over  to ensure they take yellow fever vaccine due to risk of transmission in the country.
• Gambia: A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from all passengers arriving from countries wit risk of yellow fever transmission. Highly recommended for travellers  to ensure they take yellow fever vaccine due to risk of transmission in some areas of the country.
• Ghana: A yellow fever vaccination is required from all travellers over 9 months of age. Highly recommended for travellers to ensure they take yellow fever vaccine due to risk of transmission in the country.
• Guinea: A yellow fever vaccination is required from all travellers over 1 year arriving from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission. Highly recommended for travellers to ensure they take yellow fever vaccine due to risk of transmission in the country.
• Guinea Bissau: A yellow fever vaccine is required from all travellers over 1 year of age. Highly recommended for travellers to ensure they take yellow fever vaccine due to risk of transmission in the country.
• Kenya: A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from all travellers over 1 year of age arriving from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission. Highly recommended for travellers to ensure they take yellow fever vaccine due to risk of transmission in the country.
• Lesotho: A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from all travellers over 1 year of age arriving from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission. Lesotho has low potential for exposure and a yellow fever vaccine is not recommended for travellers staying in the country. Travellers from countries with no risk of yellow fever transmission do not require yellow fever certificates.
• Liberia: A yellow fever vaccination is required from all travellers over 1 year of age. Highly recommended for travellers to ensure they take yellow fever vaccine due to risk of transmission in the country. Highly recommended for travellers to ensure they take yellow fever vaccine due to risk of transmission in the country.
• Libya:  A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from travellers arriving from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission. Libya has very low potential for exposure to yellow fever and a yellow fever vaccination is not recommended for travellers from countries with no risk of yellow fever transmission.
• Madagascar: A yellow fever vaccination is required from all travellers from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission. Madagascar has low potential for infection and a yellow fever vaccination is not recommended for travellers staying in the country from regions with no risk of yellow fever transmission.
• Malawi: A yellow fever vaccination is required from all travellers from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission. Malawi is another low potential country and a yellow fever vaccination is not recommended from travellers staying in the country from regions with no risk of yellow fever transmission.
• Maldives: Not really country in Africa but pretty close to the Africa Region. A yellow fever vaccination is required from all travellers from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission. The vaccination is not recommended for visitors staying in the country as there is no risk of yellow fever transmission in the Maldives.
• Mali: A yellow fever vaccination is required from all travellers over 1 year of age. Recommended for all travellers aged 9 months and over going to the areas South of the Sahara Desert.
• Mauritania: A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from travellers over 1 year of age arriving from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission. Recommended for all travellers aged 9 months or over travelling to areas south of the Sahara Desert (Map). Not recommended for travellers whose itineraries are limited to areas in the Sahara Desert (Map).
• Mauritius: A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from travellers over 1 year of age arriving from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission. Not recommended for visitors from countries with no risk of yellow fever transmission as there's no risk of yellow fever transmission in Mauritius.
• Mayotte: Yellow fever vaccination certificate is not required.
• Morocco: Yellow fever vaccination certificate is not required. Yellow fever vaccination not recommended for travellers as there's no risk of transmission.
• Mozambique: A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from all travellers arriving from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission. Yellow fever vaccination not recommended for travellers who do not pose a yellow fever risk  i.e. from countries with no risk of yellow fever vaccination.
• Namibia: A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from travellers arriving from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission. The countries, or parts of countries, included in the endemic zones in Africa and South America are regarded as areas with risk of yellow fever transmission.
  Travellers who are on scheduled flights that originated outside the countries with risk of yellow fever transmission, but who have been in transit through these areas, are not required to possess a certificate provided that they remained at the scheduled airport or in the adjacent town during transit. All travellers whose flights originated in countries with risk of yellow fever transmission or who have been in transit through these countries on unscheduled flights are required to possess a certificate. The certificate is not insisted upon in the case of children under 1 year of age, but such infants may be subject to surveillance. Yellow fever vaccination not recommended for travellers who do not pose a yellow fever risk  i.e. from countries with no risk of yellow fever vaccination.
• Niger: A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from all travellers over 1 year of age and recommended for travellers departing Niger. Recommended for all travellers aged 9 months or over travelling to areas south of the Sahara Desert (Map). Not recommended for travellers whose itineraries are limited to areas in the Sahara Desert (Map).
• Nigeria: A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from travellers over 1 year of age arriving from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission. Highly recommended for travellers to ensure they take yellow fever vaccine due to risk of transmission in the country.
• Reunion: A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from travellers over 1 year of age arriving from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission. Yellow fever vaccination not recommended for travellers who do not pose a yellow fever risk  i.e. from countries with no risk of yellow fever vaccination as Reunion has no risk of yellow fever transmission.
• Rwanda: Yellow fever vaccination required from all travellers over 1 year of age. Highly recommended for travellers to ensure they take yellow fever vaccine due to risk of transmission in the country.
• Sao Tome and Principe: A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from all travellers over
  1 year of age.
• Senegal: A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from travellers over 9 months of age arriving from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission. Highly recommended for travellers to ensure they take yellow fever vaccine due to risk of transmission in the country.
• Seychelles:  A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from travellers over 9 months of age arriving from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission. No yellow fever risk in the country so a vaccination is not recommended for those from countries not placed under the mandatory yellow vaccination requirement.
• Sierra Leone: A yellow fever vaccination is required from all travellers. Highly recommended for travellers to ensure they take yellow fever vaccine due to risk of transmission in the country.
• Somalia: A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from travellers arriving from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission. Generally not recommended for travellers going to the following regions: Bakool, Banaadir, Bay, Gado, Galgadud, Hiran, Lower Juba, Middle Juba, Lower Shabelle and Middle Shabelle (Map). Not recommended for all other areas not listed above. 
• South Africa: A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from travellers over 1 year of age arriving from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission. Generally not recommended for travellers from countries with no risk of transmission as South Africa is generally a very low risk(no risk) area for yellow  fever transmission. 
• Sudan: A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from travellers over 9 months of age arriving from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission. A certificate may be required from travellers departing Sudan. Highly recommended for travellers to ensure they take yellow fever vaccine due to risk of transmission in the country.
• Swaziland: A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from travellers arriving from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission. Like South Africa, Swaziland has no risk of yellow fever transmission hence a yellow fever vaccination is not recommended unless it's a mandatory requirement for your country.
• Tanzania: A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from travellers over 1 year of age arriving from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission.
  
• Togo: A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from all travellers over 1 year of age. Highly recommended for travellers to ensure they take yellow fever vaccine due to risk of transmission in the country.
• Tunisia: A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from travellers over 1 year of age arriving from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission. A yellow fever vaccination is not recommended unless it's a mandatory requirement for your country as Tunisia has no risk of transmission.
• Uganda: A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from travellers over 1 year of age arriving from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission. Highly recommended for travellers to ensure they take yellow fever vaccine due to risk of transmission in the country.
• Zambia: Yellow fever vaccination certificate not required.
• Zimbabwe: A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from travellers arriving from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission. Zimbabwe, like South Africa has no risk has no of yellow fever transmission and a vaccination is not recommended unless it's mandatory for your country.
  

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Nigerian National Airline: In whose Interest?

Nigerian Newspaper This Day Live examines the clamour for the establishment of a new National Airline:

Chinedu Eze examines the debate for and against the establishment of national carrier, the gains and its effect on existing domestic airlines.

The debate has been rife and involved those who vociferously wanted to have a national carrier and those who don’t wish to have it.

There are numerous gains for a country as large as Nigeria with the most viable air transport market in West Africa and second largest in Africa, after South Africa, to have its own airline and is identified as the country’s airline with all the accoutrements of government support.

The defunct Nigeria Airways

 One, it will be the face of Nigeria outside the country, just like South Africa Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, Air France, British Airways, Lufthansa of Germany, KLM of Netherlands, Egypt Air, Air Maroc of Morocco, Turkish Airline and many others. 

A national carrier will help Nigeria to have better negotiation of Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA), it will help develop a major Nigerian airport, like the Murtala Muhammed International Airport as a hub; it will also broaden the image of Nigeria in the comity of nations.

By its sheer size and its prolific air transport market, the CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, Tewolde Gebremariam, told THISDAY recently in Addis Ababa that Nigeria needs two national carriers because of its large travelling public and Nigerians arguably remain the most travelled people in Africa in search of business.

Last week, the special assistant (media) to the Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah, Joe Obi, told THISDAY that in spite of criticisms about floating a new national carrier in some quarters, majority of Nigerians are really clamouring for it because of its strategic importance in air transport.

But he said that government does not intend to put any money into the project; rather, the Aviation Ministry would come up with a template and criteria on how the national airline would be floated.

The template, he said, would include a framework on ownership structure, but emphasized that it would wholly be private sector driven, but government must have equity investment or stakeholding for the airline to be a national carrier.

“We want to have a national carrier. It is desirable and Nigerians are clamouring for it. Ministry will come up with the template, the criteria for establishing the airline with framework on ownership structure.”

Princes Stella Oduah was quoted to have said, "We’re working on a national carrier that will be publicly owned with limited financial contribution by the government. Government will act as a regulator and provide an enabling environment for this objective to be achieved.”

CEO of Belujane Konsult and former public affairs manager of the defunct Nigeria Airways Limited (NAL), Chris Aligbe looked at the gains of having a national carrier and said that first, Nigeria has to understand the concept on national carrier; that it must deviate from what a national carrier, like NAL used to be.

“It must be run as a private sector concern where government for emergency and grandfather rights reasons must be a stakeholder, but does not own more than 10 per cent equity so that the airline can be called to provide emergency services whenever possible and so that it will also enjoy government protection.”

Aligbe said that it must be private sector driven, but an international airline of repute must hold equity as core investor. This core investor and partner must nurse the airline until it becomes strong and would then be handed to Nigerians to manage; even at that, the core investor airline must retain certain stakeholding.

He gave example with Kenya Airways and KLM, the Dutch airline, which is a core investor of the East Africa national carrier.

“Government must not be involved in the running of the airline and the core investor must be an airline that does not operate in Nigeria presently, like Cathay Pacific Airways and Australian Qantas. There must be legal, regulatory and administrative framework, which will clearly define the mandate of the investors.”

Aligbe said that Nigeria really needs two national carriers that can compete with European airlines that have dominated Nigeria’s airspace, noting that with dominant national carriers capital flights of the nation’s resources would reduce and the threat of making Accra West African hub would be a thing of the past because if the Nigerian airlines take over the high percentage of passengers on international routes, European carrier’s threat of developing a another hub   from Lagos in West Africa would be impossible.

“Nigeria needs two national carriers which can compete with European airlines. This will reduce capital flight and the two airlines will rebuild the manpower needs of the country, which has depleted since the demise of NAL that trained majority of aviation personnel in the country today. Yu will be shocked if you know the number of expatriate personnel in the aviation industry today, especially in the technical area.”

Industry observer and former president of Nigeria Cabin Crew Association, Fidel Olu Ohunayo, in reaction to the report that government would establish a national carrier this year queried, “Is this coming on the heels of absence of Nigerian airlines in the aviation sector , or is it to recover the sold assets of Nigeria Airways or reinstate its workers who one way or another are already professionally engaged, including serving some of the 13/15 Nigerian flag carriers who strongly needed government support and understanding on every factor of operation, ranging from finance to fuel, to manpower, etc?”

He also warned, “We must be wary of any future attempt to favor the new national airline to the detriment of the existing flag carriers similar to the discriminatory treatment doled out by government to the defunct Virgin Nigeria Airways which threw the airline into early crisis that made its principal promoter, Richard Branson to eventually divest his interest.”

Also,  seasoned industry expert and senior official of one of the aviation parastatals spoke to THISDAY on Monday and wanted to know what format of national carrier government wants to establish.

“If you call it a national carrier it means that it is owned by government partly or wholly. If government wants to have interest it will not conform with the global trend and the global trend is that government is divesting from business and allow private investors to operate because they know how to run business better.”

The source observed that there are some countries that have successfully managed a national carrier, like Singapore but noted that the environment is different, emphasizing that a country’s environment and culture determines whether a national carrier could be run successfully or not.

In Nigeria, the source was not so optimistic. “Can government run business successfully in Nigeria? I am yet to see a business that government is running very well in this country. But probably the reason why government may want to have a national carrier is to maximize the benefit from the aviation sector, but can’t this be achieved with the privately owned airlines?

“Most Nigerian airlines are right now going through financial stress, so government should look at a way of boosting capacity of the existing carriers. Probably government believes that if it established a national carrier it will be calling the shots, but this is dicey because government may not be able to sustain a national carrier.”

Right now the owners of existing flag carriers in Nigeria under the aegis of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) seem to oppose the establishment of national carrier because from hindsight such establishment would threaten their existence. Past experience show that while the national carrier takes government attention and patronage, it largely does not have the capacity to provide all the needed air services in Nigeria; yet, the national carrier usually threaten to eclipse the private operators.

The source said that the fears of the airline owners are real.

“If you look back, their fear may  be unjustified. If you look at the time of Nigeria Airways, the airline could not maximize the potential that was on ground then and yet would not allow a private operator to explore the opportunities it could not maximise. Once an airline is called a national carrier it now begins to exert so much control and influence over the government and they would be seen as the only carrier and all other carriers would not be adequately protected and adequately catered for.”

On the issue of BASA, the source said the national carrier would claim ownership of BASA and would want to operate so many international routes which it may not have the capacity to operate, but would not be willing to allow the other operators to take over.

The source observed that all over the world the reason why airlines are kicking against the idea of national carrier was because the nation’s money is used to prop up an airline, which enjoys such unlimited patronage and at the same time it is competing with other local airlines that do have the financial trappings and protection in the same market. So that privately owned commercial airlines, which may have higher capacity are put at disadvantage.

“Also a government subsidized carrier can lower its fares and have undue advantage against the other airlines it is competing with. And this is what the airline owners are kicking against; unless government has a way of assuring other operators who are investing their money, that they would be protected.”

CEO of Sabre Network Incorporated, West Africa, Gabriel Gbenga Olowu, said that Nigeria presently has10- 13 flag carriers, including  Air Nigeria, Arik, Aero, Chachangi, Dana, IRS,KABO, etc. that are not government owned but established through private investors, noting that it is a commendable development.

Olowu however remarked, “Our airlines are weak in competition, highly indebted and needed sound and genuine government support for continued survival.”

He said that Nigerian airlines need financial bailout through debt forgiveness, observing that low cost intervention funds by government to service debts is not the way forward because such funds cannot address fuel needs ,fleet renewal ,insurance and other basic items.

“Cases abound world over where governments rose up to bail out its critical businesses among which aviation is paramount. Sept 11 and global economic meltdown US remedies remain very fresh. Our airlines need economic bail out. Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) which yields negative balance of trade must be reversed. Our airlines must cooperate for competitive advantage. Since it is unAfrican to merge , economic regulation should make this happen. Given 3-5 years ultimatum, airline with less than 50 airworthy aircraft in its fleet ceases to operate.”

Olowu said that this would force the airline coalesce  into 4-5 mega operators with obvious synergies of doing so, adding that Nigerian airlines must invest in modern aviation technology for distribution, engineering, revenue, crewing ,etc and depart from rule of the thumb approach of the past.

“One man one airline syndrome will lead an operator to disaster,” he emphasized.

Ohunayo queried, “Why is a national carrier needed? To absorb employees of failed major carriers by providing employment and assuages nerves of restive unions or to act as a means of providing additional fleet, capacity, and frequency in support of other registered carriers or to fill a vacuum and avert the monopolistic tendencies of surviving airlines.”

He argued that the first scenario has been overtaken by events while second and third are the crux of the present agitation for another national carrier, considering the present set of flag carriers have not done anything to reflect national ownership like their counterpart in the banking industry which naturally muster public support and protection.

“Also they are floundering with suffocating debts, with the international routes and frequencies that should be money spinners apparently controlled by foreign airlines. We also lack undiluted low cost carriers, adequate regional jets or props services, finance and a regulated consolidation regime that will bolster the critical mass of our carriers and improve passenger enplanement to the benefit of all stakeholders in general and the economy in particular.”

Ohunayo reasoned that “if we must have a national carrier, then we should ponder over the cost, risk and lessons from other climes, also we should dust the report of the International Finance Company that was contacted to work out modalities of a new carrier in the early days of the present democratic setting.”

But an enlightened Nigerian is stung with envy when he sees national carriers of European and African airlines come to feast on our passengers daily and consolidating their profits from the Nigerian passengers. It is really natural to feel that if Nigeria has a national airline it would benefit enormously from the growing Nigeria air travel market.

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