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The 5th International Federation of Air Traffic Safety Electronics Association (IFATSEA) Africa Regional Conference has opened in Accra with a call on captains of aviation in Africa to endeavour to maintain the highest safety standards in the industry. The Minister of Transport, Ms Dzifa Aku Attivor, made the call at the opening session of the conference yesterday and said that had become necessary to maintain and improve on air transport safety in Africa. The conference is being attended by aviation experts from Africa. It is to provide a platform to discuss and brainstorm current practices and challenges in the aviation industry on the continent and provide advice on policy options and solutions for various governments in Africa. It is on the theme: �Air Traffic Safety Electronic Personnel (ATSEP) Training, Certification and Licensing � Panacea for maintaining aviation highest safety standard.� Growth in Aviation Ms Attivor said the aviation industry in Africa was growing by the day; hence, the need to ensure that it had the required trained human capital and facilities in place to support its growth. She said the bedrock of air safety, among other factors, was hinged on two main issues; namely, the provision of infrastructure and ground operations and the training of competent personnel to operate the systems and provide the required safety services. She noted that the enhancement of safety in the industry could not be achieved and sustained without a properly trained staff and certified regimes. She said the personnel in whose hands the maintenance of the safety of life applications such as the Air Traffic Management Systems relied required to be certified for the systems on which they operated to maintain the highest safety standards set for the industry. She said safety should be achieved at a reasonable cost with commensurate benefits and added that it required teamwork and demanded a high level of inter-operability and harmonisation. Consequently, she urged the participants and other associations to unite to support their respective aviation institutions to sustain the enviable safety records in the air transportation industry. The acting Director-General of the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GARCIA), Mr Abdulai Alhassan, for his part expressed the GCAA�s gratitude to the Ghana Air Traffic Safety Electronic Association (GHATSEA) for demonstrating an impeccable professionalism in the discharge of their duties. He said their commitment to duty could best be graded as excellent.