ITIC MEA 2024 | Travel risks in Africa – appearance vs reality
ITIC MEA continues with presentations from Lloyd Figgins from The TRIP Group and Salome Odhiambo from International SOS
The ITIJ team have been reporting live from ITIC MEA in Cairo this week, sharing the discussions that took place at the conference. Read all the reports here.
Lloyd Figgins, Chief Operating Officer, The Travel Risk & Incident Prevention (TRIP) Group
Figgins’ presentation focused on the risks facing leisure travellers in Africa – known, said Figgins’ as “the Gateway to Adventure that has something for everyone”. He began by sharing some case studies that really exemplify the challenges facing medical assistance and security advisors working in Africa; the main takeaways were the importance of timely solutions, and the importance of being able to react fast to changing situations.
Figgins shared some of the key challenges that travellers in Africa must consider and overcome if they are to have an uneventful journey, depending on what is on their itinerary – and Africa has a very diverse tourism offering. However, it is the other, possibly less obvious, dangers that will more frequently endanger travellers’ health and wellbeing, or force them to alter their trips – a global risk map for 2024 underlined the risks of geopolitical instability in many parts of the African continent.
The revenue brought in by tourists in Africa stands currently at US$24 billion; a figure that is expected to rise to almost $30 billion by 2028, and, Figgins added that the potential for growth is incredible, with a young population full of entrepreneurial spirit. Improved transport links are making the potential even greater for countries that want a piece of the tourism industry.
All these travellers, though, face risks include disease prevalence (not necessarily that Africa has a higher rate than other places, but the level of awareness among the travelling population of this risk is low), poor road safety (as roads improve, speed of vehicles increases), high crime levels, lack of safety regulations governing certain activities, limited medical resources (and how the use of them by travellers affects the local population), and issues with awareness and understanding of insurance coverage.
Returning to the issue of geopolitical instability, Figgins highlighted the problem with some key figures:
- There has been a 100,000% increase in terrorist-related deaths since 2002–03
- 23,000 people were killed in terror-related incidents in 2023 on the African continent.
However, Figgins was keen to emphasise that with appropriate pre-travel planning, tracking, good communication, risk assessment, emergency response plans, and – of course – the appropriate insurance, travel in Africa can be a safe and unforgettable experience.
Salome Odhiambo, Lead Security Analyst for East and Southern Africa, International SOS
Odhiambo’s presentation was focused on business travel – its recovery since the Covid-19 pandemic, and what this means for business hubs on the African continent. “Organisations,” said Odhiambo, “need to be focused on travel risk management, specifically the ISO310300 standard.” A number of facts and figures were used to back up this assertion, including research that 75% of employees have higher expectations of duty of care than ever before, and 70% of people expect businesses to pick up all health and safety responsibilities that used to be taken on by governments. “Safety and security is increasingly at the forefront of peoples’ minds when they go on a business trip,” said Odihambo.
Looking specifically at perceived travel risks in Africa, Odhiambo showed data that the top risks were considered to be geopolitical tensions, and civil/social unrest. The perceived security threats in Africa, then, include armed robbery, protests, conflicts, and terror attacks. “Whereas in reality, the most common threats are road traffic accidents, petty opportunistic crimes, and then civil unrest,” Salome told the audience.
She then went on to highlight the importance of really understanding a continent as big as Africa, and how different the risks can be across borders, by showing that while there are several countries that present an extremely high risk to travellers (Libya, Somalia, Central African Republic, South Sudan), there are others (Morocco, Senegal, Ghana, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia), where the risk is considered by International SOS to be low. “What’s interesting about this map is not necessarily the variety of risk facing travellers, it’s more about where the business travel volume is increasing – as in some cases, these travellers are going to the higher risk countries,” Odihambo told the ITIC audience.
Therefore, increased levels of preparedness and support are going to be necessary for these travellers and – as mentioned earlier – expected.