On the surface, everything is going well between Lomé and Abidjan. Except that behind this facade of brotherhood, a muffled, merciless war is being waged between two capitals. At issue is the control of sub-regional air traffic, which will confer on the winner the enviable and strategic status of "sub-regional hub", with all the advantages associated with the establishment and development of business.

The first economy of the WAEMU (West African Economic and Monetary Union) and the third in the ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) area, after Lagos and Accra, Abidjan is the only country in the region to have such a hub.Until the end of the 1990s, Abidjan undoubtedly held many cards to become the leading business center in the WAEMU subregion, and naturally the subregional air transport hub.

However, with the political and military crisis that the country experienced during the decade of two thousand, the departure of Abidjan from the ADB (African Development Bank), the disappearance of the African Development Bank, and the loss of the country's capital, the country's economy has become more complex.velopment), the disappearance of Air Afrique, among others, Abidjan had lost its position as a sub-regional capital, leaving the field open for other ambitions to emerge.

Thus, on the West African level, Accra, which has since experienced two decades of economic growth, is now clearly showing its ambitions. At the same time, at the sub-regional level, Lomé, which has become attractive again after years of decline, and has since been in the midst of reconstruction, can rely on its newfound economic interest.

With the return of Alassane Ouattara to business in Abidjan, and of the Ivorian capital on the sub-regional scene, Abidjan now intends to fully play the leading role it has always played. Especially with the return of the AfDB to the Ivorian market, not to mention the BRVM (WAEMU Regional Stock Exchange) which is also based there.

But in this battle, Lomé does not lack assets either. It is also home to leading regional institutions, including BOAD (West African Development Bank), the coveted pan-African banking group Ecobank, EBID (ECOWAS Investment Bank), and ... the Orabank group, and many others.

In the more competitive field of air transport, Lomé can already count on two major regional carriers, both of which have chosen it as a hub. The major Ethiopian Airlines, whose size is no longer to be presented, and the young company, Asky, which also has its headquarters there.

Thus, the birth and start of operations of the airline Asky, which wants to be pan-African, both in its objectives and in its services, will highlight this rivalry.

After trying in vain to recover the headquarters, the base of operations of the company, Abidjan will slow down the issuance of the necessary authorization to Asky to serve the Ivorian capital. Obstacles that unfortunately or fortunately, will not last long.

However, Abidjan will resurrect its defunct company Air Ivoire, renamed Air Côte d'Ivoire, not only to keep its local traffic, but also to expand in the rest of the world.This is not only to keep its local traffic, but also to expand in the sub-region, in direct competition with Asky's efforts to serve the major cities of the sub-region.

A way to mark its difference, its lone rider, by joining a scheme outside the community, as sought by member states of the Uemoa space, by deciding the birth of the company to fill the void left by Air Afrique.

A strategy against the current according to several experts, with a continent that now has a hundred national companies, many of which are doomed to fail in the next ten years. The reason is that they are "too numerous and not profitable enough" to be able to compete with the big foreign companies.

Meanwhile, ASKY, which believes in its chances and its strategy, and which wants to be a pan-African company, both in its objectives and in its essence, will privilege partnerships with twenty or so foreign companies.Meanwhile, ASKY, which believes in its chances and its strategy, and which wants to be a pan-African company, both in its objectives and in its essence, is going to privilege partnerships with about twenty companies of the region, to cover nineteen countries of West and Central Africa, with a success which today, is becoming clearer and stronger.

But Lomé, which now believes in its chances, also wants to give itself all the means to meet the challenge.

In this sense, since 2012, it has undertaken the modernization of its airport, which according to estimates, will have cost no less than 150 billion CFA francs. Work financed by a loan from China EximBank, and which should allow the Gnassingbé Eyadema International Airport (AIGE), to accommodate an average of 2.5 million passengers per year and quadruple the processing of its annual cargo.

But Lomé, which has also put in place a number of benefits and tax measures, does not intend to stop there, to attract other international carriers. Thus, within a few months, the arrival of new companies, two to three additional, interested in the airport platform of Lome, to make their hub serving the West African region.

Abidjan will still have to fight hard to supplant Lomé as the leading air service hub in the sub-Saharan region. But to stay in the race, Lomé will have to rely more on a strong political will, without fail, and ready to support it until the end.