Burkina Faso’s richest man Mahamadou Bonkoungou launches commercial airline

Meet Mahamadou Bonkoungou, Burkina Faso’s richest man, as well as the founder and owner of EBOMAF, one of the largest construction companies in West Africa. The company is behind some of the most lucrative construction deals in West Africa worth more than $3 billion, according to Billionaire Africa.

Besides EBOMAF, Bonkoungou is into banking; he acquired the Togolese Bank for Commerce and Industry (BTCI), as well as the Bonkoungou Distribution, a Burkina Faso-based distributor of heavy and light machinery for the construction, mining, and quarrying sectors.

Bonkoungou also owns Liza Transport, which he has expanded into the aviation space. He recently launched a new commercial airline called Liz Aviation, Billionaires Africa reports. The company has two ATR-type aircraft with 70 economy-class seats that will rotate twice daily.

The airline, which was launched on Thursday, April 27, 2023, made an inaugural flight between Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso. 

The launch of the new airline was attended by high-rank Burkina Faso officials, including the chief of staff, the country’s president, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, and the country’s Minister of Transport, Urban Mobility, and Road Safety, Roland Somda.

In a congratulatory statement read on behalf of Captain Traoré, the chief of staff, Anderson Medeh, highlighted the importance of the airline, not only to Burkina Faso, but the entire West African sub-region.

Transport Minister Somda said the airline will boost the volume of trade between the economic capital and Ouagadougou, combining speed and security.

“This travel offer, which is in addition to that of the national airline Air Burkina, will undoubtedly boost the volume of trade between the economic capital and Ouagadougou, combining speed and security,” he said. 

“We must therefore work to ensure that the plane is no longer seen as a luxury, but rather as a development tool that saves time and money,” he added.

The Director General of the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC), Dr. Thomas Hyacinthe Compaore, said the new airline will advance the development of air transport in Burkina Faso.

“In a landlocked country like Burkina Faso, any new company that operates on its airport platforms contributes to a decisive advancement in the development of air transport. And this, in terms of increasing the practice of better communities and opening up by the possibilities of opening the national sky,” he said, according to Africa Aero.

On his part, Bonkoungou said expanding air services in the country will rejuvenate the country’s aviation industry by providing regular flights from Burkina to the Sub-region. By so doing, he hopes the country’s economy will grow and position the country as an economic power for growth and business creation.

The airline will also serve the Lomé-Niamtougou-Ouaga and Lomé-Ouaga-Lomé routes.