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Fact File Capital: Ouagadougou Population: 17,338,000 Time zone: GMT 0 Plugs: Two pin round Dialling code: +226 Currency: CFA Franc. Exchange rate: $1 = 499.888 XOF Language: French Visas Citizens of the following countries do not require a visa to enter Benin: Benin, Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo All other nationalities will need to secure a visa before entering the country. Airlines Air Algerie – www.airalgerie.dz Air Burkina – www.air-burkina.com Air Cote d’Ivoire – www.aircotedivoire.com Air France –...

Fact File Population: 2,096,000 Time zone: GMT+2 Plugs: M-Plug, G-Plug, Europlug Dialling code: +267 Currency: Pula (BWP) Language: English, Setswana Background Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name upon independence in 1966. Naturally beautiful, Botswana’s standout features include striking salt pans, diamond-rich deserts and fertile flood plains which teem with game. The north, in particular, offers superb wildlife-watching opportunities, making this one of...

Fact File Capital: Porto-Novo Population: 9,742,000 Time zone:  GMT +1 Plugs: Two-pin round Dialling code: +229 Currency: CFA franc. Exchange rate: $1 = 499.888 XOF Language: French Visas Citizens of the following countries do not require a visa to enter Benin: Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo All other nationalities will need to secure a visa before entering the country. Cotonou Public transport is a bit unusual in Benin’s capital city. The most common...

Fact File Population: 12 million Time zone: GMT+1 Plugs: Round-pin attachment Dialling code: +244 Currency: Kwanza - $1=97.5AOA Language: Portuguese, Bantu, other African languages Background Once a Portuguese colony, Angola achieved independence in 1975, but then followed that up with 27 years of civil war. Up to 1.5 million lives were lost and four million people displaced. Jonas Savimbi's death in 2002 ended UNITA's insurgency and strengthened...

Fact File Capital: Algiers Population: 38,295,000 Time zone: GMT 0 Plugs: Two-pin round Dialling code: +213 Currency: Algerian dinar. Exchange rate: $1= DZD78.4 Language: Arabic Visa All non-Algerians need to apply for a visa to enter Algeria, with a few exceptions. Nationals from the following countries do not require a visa to travel to Algeria: Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Seychelles, Syrian Arab Republic,...

Ethiopian Airlines will start double daily flights to Delhi (India) with a Boeing 737-800 on 26 March

The world has always heard about Africa through the western voices – the story about famine, poverty and disease – but that is not the true picture of Africa. The real African story is best told by African voices.

Since the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa in 2014, the region’s tourism business has taken a huge knock. While Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone were hardest hit, surrounding countries suffered a severe drop in visitor numbers last year. Thankfully, with infection numbers on the decline, life is starting to flow back into West Africa. But Ghana experienced a double whammy of a badly performing economy on top of the medical crisis. This is no reason to count the country out, however. Axel Hauser, General Manager of the Moevenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra, is confident that despite these setbacks, Ghana has what it takes to fully recover, and is already seeing occupancy figures rise.

Owning a business aircraft can be complicated. Yes, there are huge benefits, but various international regulations can cause problems, which is why it’s important to put your aircraft in the hands of a quality management company that will handle everything from planning flight slots to crewing, administration, maintenance and potentially generating charter revenue.

It seems the African MICE industry is always bouncing back from a tough year, and once again things are looking good for this segment of the corporate travel market. Richard Holmes takes a look at some of the trends and gets the thoughts of some of those executives who are immersed in the subject matter, as Africa’s MICE specialists look to make the most of another ‘boom’ year.