‘One District, One Airstrip’ Should be Ghana’s Goal — Captain Asiwome Dzakuma

United Airlines first officer and aviation advocate Captain Asiwome Dzakuma has called on Ghana to adopt a “One District, One Airstrip” initiative, arguing that expanding general aviation infrastructure could unlock economic growth, improve connectivity and create thousands of jobs across the country.

Speaking in an interview with Kafui Dey, Captain Asiwome said the proposal is part of his long-term vision for the Arise and Fly campaign, an initiative spearheaded by his organisation, Strategic Aviation Services, to promote general aviation as a tool for national development.

Reflecting on what he hopes to achieve over the next decade, the pilot said the campaign’s central message is to make air access available in every district.

“You know, most of the chants yesterday were, ‘Arise and Fly,’ and then we said, ‘One district, one airstrip,’” he said.

“So for me, in 10 years, I hope that we’ll have one district, at least one airstrip. It shouldn’t just be one airstrip. It should be more airstrips.”

Captain Asiwome said Ghana has overlooked the role of general aviation in national planning, leaving the country behind as other nations invest in smaller aircraft operations that support tourism, agriculture, emergency medical services and regional transportation.

“I think part of what we should do as Ghanaians is actually incorporate general aviation into our strategic planning,” he said.

He pointed to the rapid growth of urban air mobility around the world, warning that Ghana risks missing future opportunities if aviation infrastructure is not integrated into city development.

“Look at a city like Accra. We have missed out on opportunity. A lot of countries are talking about urban air mobility where you can fly these general aviation aircraft around.”

“But look at Accra. We’ve just built with no airstrips or landing places for general aviation. We’ve missed out.”

The United Airlines pilot urged authorities to make aviation infrastructure a deliberate component of future urban and regional planning.

“Hopefully, as we develop, we should be able to actually put airstrips as part of our country planning and put airstrips in all the districts at least,” he said.

Captain Asiwome also disclosed that his organisation has begun engaging traditional authorities to advance the initiative, revealing that the Volta Regional House of Chiefs has expressed interest in partnering with Strategic Aviation Services.

“We gave a presentation to the Volta Regional House of Chiefs, and they’ve come on board. They want us to work together to see how we can develop general aviation in the Volta Region to harness the potential the region has got,” he said.

He cited countries such as the United States, Kenya and Tanzania as examples of how well-developed general aviation sectors contribute significantly to economic growth through tourism, air taxi services, agriculture and job creation.

“There is huge opportunity and a huge gap,” he said. “There are lots of Ghanaians who want to train in aviation, not particularly as pilots. So we need to develop our general aviation industry to give them opportunity.”

Captain Asiwome’s Arise and Fly campaign seeks to increase awareness of general aviation in Ghana while advocating policy reforms, training programmes and infrastructure development to position the sector as a catalyst for national development.