AviaDev Insight Africa

AviaDev Insight Africa

Future-Ready African Airports: The SITA and ACZ Investment Model

Sep 18, 2026 · 42 min · 10 segments

In this episode, host Jon Howell speaks with Selim Bouri, President, Middle East, Africa and Turkiye, SITA, and Daniel Muchuchuti, ICT Director, Airports Company of Zimbabwe (ACZ). The conversation…

In this episode, host Jon Howell speaks with Selim Bouri, President, Middle East, Africa and Turkiye, SITA, and Daniel Muchuchuti, ICT Director, Airports Company of Zimbabwe (ACZ). The conversation explores the latest findings from SITA's IT Insights and Baggage reports and how Africa is performing and where there is room for improvement. The conversation then moves to a case study around airport IT Investment, with the Airports Company of Zimbabwe, outlining how a collaborative approach to investment in technology upgrades aims to benefit the passenger and airline customer. Chapters: 00:00 — Why airport IT investment matters for Africa 02:14 — Africa's uneven airport technology investment 04:53 — Passenger processing and border management priorities 07:50 — Why coordination matters more than technology 10:18 — Who must collaborate to modernize African borders 14:54 — The high cost of mishandled baggage 15:57 — How baggage tracking works across the industry 16:26 — Why one mishandled bag costs $260 17:23 — Africa's baggage challenge and connecting flights 18:19 — How automation can reduce baggage mishandling 20:25 — Zimbabwe's airport technology transformation 22:40 — Building a standardized, common-use airport platform 25:59 — Convincing airlines to share the investment 30:08 — The case for integrated, future-proof technology 31:34 — Shared payment and shared responsibility 35:32 — A new investment model for growing African airports 38:32 — Advice for airport technology leaders 40:30 — Why long-term IT investment will shape future growth Resources: SITA's baggage insights: https://www.sita.aero/resources/surveys-reports/sita-baggage-it-insights/ SITA's 2025 Air Transport IT Insights report: https://www.sita.aero/resources/surveys-reports/air-transport-it-insights-2025/airports/

In this episode, host Jon Howell speaks with Selim Bouri, President, Middle East, Africa and Turkiye, SITA, and Daniel Muchuchuti, ICT Director, Airports Company of Zimbabwe (ACZ). The conversation…

John HowellHost

0:00

Hello and welcome to Aviadev Insight Africa, the podcast offering a window to the world of African aviation with your host, John Howell, CEO and founder of Aviadev Africa.

John HowellHost

0:10

We are a platform dedicated to enhancing route and fleet development to, from, and within the sub-Saharan African region.

John HowellHost

0:17

Now, every June, CETA publishes two reports that the industry watches very closely.

John HowellHost

0:23

The Air Transport IT Insights Report.

John HowellHost

0:26

This is something that tracks where airlines and airports are putting their technology investment.

John HowellHost

0:32

And the Baggage IT Insights, which quantifies the cost of lost or delayed baggage to the airlines and obviously looks at solutions as well.

John HowellHost

0:41

Now, both are global reports.

John HowellHost

0:42

So in the first half of today's conversation, we're going to ask a very simple question, which is, how is Africa doing in comparison to the global situation? And where is the room to improve? Then as we move into the second half of the episode, we're going to go from the global picture to a live example on the ground.

John HowellHost

1:02

And there we are going to bring in the Airports Company of Zimbabwe, who have just rolled out new passenger technology across the network.

John HowellHost

1:09

and is doing so with a model that shares the investment with the beneficiaries, ultimately, the airlines and, of course, the passengers that are going to benefit as well.

John HowellHost

1:20

So stay tuned to hear how that works and whether it is also now a template for how other African airport companies can also progress.

Daniel MuchuchutiGuest

1:29

My first guest on the

John HowellHost

1:30

podcast and my first guest is Selim Bourri.

John HowellHost

1:33

Selim is the president for the Middle East, Africa and Turkey at CETA.

John HowellHost

1:37

They are the technology that sits behind much of the world's air transport from check-in and bag tracking all the way through to border systems and everything in between.

John HowellHost

1:47

Now, Salim himself is an aeronautical engineer by training.

John HowellHost

1:50

He joined CETA a couple of years ago from Airbus.

John HowellHost

1:53

And for those of you who are regular listeners, you would have heard him back on episode 323 last year.

John HowellHost

1:59

We were talking all about making African airports future ready.

John HowellHost

2:02

So this feels like a really natural progress from that conversation.

John HowellHost

2:07

Welcome back to the podcast, Salim.

Read the full transcript.

Create an account to read the whole episode, search across every transcript, and follow the shows you care about.

Sign up Already have an account? Log in