AfBAA strengthens team with two new appointments

The new appointees are Dawit Lemma, as AfBAA Vice President, International, based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and Samantha (Sam) Keddle, AfBAA Manager, based in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Lemma is the Founder and CEO of Krimson Aviation, an aviation services company based in Ethiopia and Malta.  He has a degree in Aeronautical Engineering and Flight Technical from Purdue University, USA, and an MSc in Aviation Management and Marketing from Basel Business College, Switzerland.   He has close to 20 years of experience in the aviation sector across four continents.

 Lemma serves on the AfBAA Board of Directors and is the first African representative to sit on the International Business Aviation Council’s IS-BAH Standard’s Board.  He also represents Krimson in the European Business Aviation Association (EBAA) Ambassadors Programme, and actively engages with the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) in the USA.

Nick Fadugba, chairperson of AfBAA and CEO, African Aviation Services, says: “Dawit has been an ardent supporter of AfBAA and we are delighted that he has officially taken on the important position of Vice President, International.  His key focus will be to promote AfBAA within Africa and internationally, strengthen ties with government regulators and industry stakeholders, and help the association to achieve its numerous goals.”

Sam Keddle joins AfBAA from The Commercial Aviation Association of South Africa (CAASA) where she has served as Office Manager since April, 2016.  She brings a wealth of experience and expertise to AfBAA particularly in managing association affairs, addressing the needs of members and arranging conferences, exhibitions and meetings. 

“We are delighted that Sam has joined the Association in the critical position of full-time AfBAA Manager.  Her key objectives will be to enhance AfBAA’s administration, interface with AfBAA’s leadership team, members, industry stakeholders, supporters and sponsors, and to help to manage AfBAA’s international publicity and events,” said Nick Fadugba.