Market Intelligence: Africa

Aircraft Manufacturer Embraer Appoints New Vice President of Services & Support

Embraer announced today that Carlos Naufel, current Technical Director of Azul Linhas Aéreas, will be the new Vice President of Services & Support, effective on September 1, 2023. The current VP of the area, Johann Bordais, will assume the role of CEO at Eve Air Mobility, as announced at the end of July.

With 27 years of experience in the aviation sector, Naufel graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and earned a Master’s in Business from FAAP University, in São Paulo, among other specializations. At Azul for almost five years, Naufel now leads Azul’s Technical Department, which has more than 2,000 employees and covers the areas of engineering and maintenance (line and heavy maintenance), quality, and logistics. Starting this year, he also became responsible for Azul TecOps, a new business unit created to sell services.
Prior to joining Azul, Naufel worked at Embraer for more than 18 years, holding various roles in the service and support area. Between 2017 and 2019, he was Vice President of Technical Solutions, being responsible for maintenance engineering, fleet performance and technical support for Commercial, Executive and Defense Aviation customers.

“Naufel combines a successful history in Embraer’s services area with customer vision and broad technical knowledge,” said Francisco Gomes Neto, President and CEO of Embraer. “I’m confident he will continue the ongoing transformation in the area and accelerate the profitable growth of the business.”

“I helped to shape the Embraer Services and Support area together with Johann Bordais, and over the last several years, I’ve had the privilege to successfully run Azul’s technical, quality and logistical areas, dealing with several other aircraft manufacturers in a very complex airline environment with nearly 1,000 flights a day. Recently, Azul was named the World’s Best Airline by Trip Advisor and the World’s Most On-Time Airline by Cirium,” said Naufel. “I am thrilled to bring back all this knowledge and expertise to Embraer to help shape the future of the services business unit increasing customer satisfaction as well as business results.”

About Embraer
A global aerospace company headquartered in Brazil, Embraer has businesses in Commercial and Executive aviation, Defense & Security and Agricultural Aviation. The company designs, develops, manufactures and markets aircraft and systems, providing Services & Support to customers after-sales. Since it was founded in 1969, Embraer has delivered more than 8,000 aircraft. On average, about every 10 seconds an aircraft manufactured by Embraer takes off somewhere in the world, transporting over 145 million passengers a year.
Embraer is the leading manufacturer of commercial jets up to 150 seats and the main exporter of high value-added goods in Brazil. The company maintains industrial units, offices, service and parts distribution centers, among other activities, across the Americas, Africa, Asia and Europe.

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Prodigy Training Will Invest 20 Million Euro to Build West and Central Africa’s First Phase of an 8 Bay Independent Full Flight Simulator Training Center

Prodigy Training, one of the leading consultancy firms focusing on the development of the air transport industry in Africa, will invest EUR 20 million into phase one (1) of the future eight bays simulator and cabin crew training centre plans, to be based in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.

This announcement follows Prodigy’s acquisition of two flight simulators over the last year including one Boeing 737 full flight simulator. The construction of the new facility is expected to start end of 2023, with temporary offices being used to initiate the certification with the local aerospace authority, support existing airline training clients, as well as a cabin crew CEET training device being installed in 2024. The training centre will be West and Central Africa’s largest independent full-flight simulator training organisation, focusing on providing airlines within the region with a full end-to-end local training solution provider and soon announcing the acquisition of a new full-flight simulator.

Prodigy has been working with Kylla Corporate Transactions, with its HQ in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, which secured the required funding for facility construction and purchasing of additional flight simulators and with Senegal-based advisory company, ACT Afrique.

“PRODIGY TRAINING will be a game changer for the African aviation industry, being the first independent airline-focused training simulator centre in West and Central Africa. Not only will it help airlines and other operators to reduce their training expenses while boosting competency, but it will also fill the training gap we have in the region and beyond. Considering the growth expected from the implementation of the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), it is vital to have capacity-building entities (regardless of the industry) to ensure that the next generation is fully equipped to overcome future challenges. We are just putting some foundations for sustainability. As we all know, the industry at a worldwide level is severely impacted by the shortage of qualified and skilled labour, so we are already anticipating the training volume our continent will require. And we could not hope for a better location than Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire for Prodigy Training. Strategic partnerships with existing flight schools and aviation universities will soon be announced to provide airlines with a one-stop training solution for our airline clients” shared Capt. Idriss M. Chedjou, Founder of Prodigy Training.

Jay Begum, Kylla’s London-based Investment Manager and Non-Executive Director with Prodigy Training: “Prodigy Training stood out as an investment opportunity due to the visionary leadership of its founder, Captain Idriss M. Chedjou, sound business opportunity and demand in the market“.

Fabrice Nze-Bekale, ACT Afrique’s Chief Executive Officer: “We embarked on this adventure with Prodigy Training because of the tremendous positive impact this project would bring to the region’s air safety and industry.”

The new training centre will be ready for training in mid-2024 and is now in active discussion with airlines in the region on how to best support their training requirements.

About Prodigy Avia Solutions
Prodigy Avia Solutions (PAS) is one of the African leading aviation consultancy firms specializing in airline operations solutions, airline start-up support, fleet Entry into Service (EIS), audit preparation, charter and VIP operations, strategic airline advisory services varying from network and planning, airline restructuring, skilled manpower supply, documentation management system and much more. PAS has created a new Business Unit, PRODIGY TRAINING which will aim at further developing the African Air Transport industry by increasing access to first-class aviation training solutions to current and future aviation players in partnership with international training institutions committed to transforming the continent landscape. PAS is a member of the African Airlines Association (AFRAA).

About Kylla Corporate Transactions
Kylla is a corporate transactions and investment firm that matches growth-focused companies with a worldwide network of professional investors and business partners. Established in 2002 – with its head office based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands – the firm provides capital from €3 million to €30 million for corporate funding, expansion, acquisitions, recapitalisations, management buyouts and technical corporate structures. We specialise in international investments beyond borders, mainly in Europe, Africa, Asia and the United States. Kylla manages over 30 legal entities in 12 jurisdictions and had a leadership role in raising € 950 million in Venture Capital and Private Equity for various clients around the world. In addition, we have aggregated assets worth €3.2 billion in advisory management and managed six private equity funds.

About ACT Afrique
Founded in April 2012, ACT Afrique is a pan-African financial advisory and management consulting firm based in Dakar. ACT Afrique serves a wide range of clients in the public and private sector, locally and internationally, including: multinational and African companies, private financial institutions, development finance institutions, African governments, institutions and agencies, and non-profit organizations. In addition, ACT Afrique has solid references by advising countries and organizations such as FONSIS, Senegal’s sovereign wealth fund, the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, the Republic of Senegal, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the African Development Bank, COFINA Group, Total Marketing, the IAM group, NMA Sanders and so many others.

Source: Prodigy Avia Solutions
Photo Credit: Prodigy Avia Solutions

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