In July 2012, the African Ministers responsible for civil aviation adopted the Abuja Declaration on Aviation Safety, setting key safety milestones for African ICAO member States. The declaration was reviewed in December 2017, with all States expected to meet these aviation safety targets. A critical requirement of the declaration was for States to progressively improve their Effective Implementation (EI) rates under the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP). States with an EI rate below 60% were required to raise their EI to at least 60% by 2020.

To support Sierra Leone in meeting these requirements, the Sierra Leone Civil Aviation Authority (SLCAA) sought assistance with improving its EI in organisational structure (ORG), air navigation services (ANS), and aerodromes and ground aids (AGA). Following an international tender process, ICAO appointed CAAi to assist SLCAA in enhancing its regulatory oversight framework. This project was launched under ICAO’s No Country Left Behind initiative and funded by ICAO’s SAFE Fund.

In 2015, ICAO audited Sierra Leone and reported the following Effective Implementation (EI) rates: 30% for organisation (ORG), 33.9% for air navigation services (ANS), and 16.06% for aerodromes and ground aids (AGA). The primary objective of this project was to support the Sierra Leone Civil Aviation Authority (SLCAA) in improving these EI scores to meet the Abuja Declaration target of 60% in each of the key areas: ORG, ANS, and AGA.

In May 2019, regulatory experts from CAAi collaborated with the Sierra Leone Civil Aviation Authority (SLCAA) and ICAO’s Western & Central Africa Office to assess the authority’s capabilities and challenges. Based on this assessment, CAAi provided tailored recommendations and implementation strategies to support the organisational development and long-term sustainability of SLCAA, addressing both current and future regulatory oversight needs.

CAAi experts reviewed SLCAA’s existing legal and regulatory framework in the areas of Air Navigation Services (ANS) and Aerodromes and Ground Aids (AGA) safety. The goal was to strengthen SLCAA’s safety oversight procedures and improve technical guidance materials for certification, licensing, and regulatory surveillance activities.

To ensure effective implementation of the new procedures, CAAi designed a comprehensive training programme for SLCAA’s inspectorate staff. This included a two-day workshop focused on the new regulations, manuals, and guidance materials, followed by a five-day, on-the-job training session at Inverness Airport, Scotland, which provided inspectors with hands-on experience to reinforce their learning.

In the second phase of the project, CAAi assisted SLCAA in planning the implementation of the recommendations. Workshops were held to address changes in the regulations, and best practice guidance was provided to SLCAA and the aviation industry in the areas of ANS and AGA. A collaborative working group developed a roadmap for successful delivery of the project.

The project was successfully completed in March 2020, resulting in the establishment of an autonomous organisational structure for the Sierra Leone Civil Aviation Authority (SLCAA) that covered the full scope of the State’s safety oversight responsibilities, with a particular focus on Aerodromes and Ground Aids (AGA) and Air Navigation Services (ANS). CAAi experts provided SLCAA with a robust legal and regulatory framework, fully aligned with ICAO’s Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs), addressing the critical elements of organisation and legislation (Elements 1 and 2).

As part of the project, an effective certification, licensing, and surveillance capability was developed for AGA and ANS, ensuring SLCAA could fulfil ICAO’s safety oversight requirements. A comprehensive training framework was also created and implemented, significantly enhancing the capacity of national technical staff to carry out safety oversight duties in these areas.

Upon completion of all project activities, SLCAA uploaded all relevant USOAP-related data into the ICAO Continuous Monitoring Assessment (CMA) Online Framework, including the latest Corrective Action Plan. This allowed ICAO to conduct a thorough assessment of Sierra Leone’s progress through the CMA system.