Originally Posted by AAClubGeek

22.6M who can afford to fly > 1.03B when most of those 1.03B have no possibility of paying a fare that would ever generate a profit. Talk to or at least listen to AA route planning people and you'll find that the data they have gives them little inclination to expend any effort growing into Africa.

It may seem foolish to care so little about an entire continent with 1B+ people, but the economies there simply don't justify significant flying. AA's focus for expansion is the routes that will generate the highest profit. That is primarily additional South America routes, with flights into mainland China maybe slightly higher on the priority list, if they can get slots in PEK/PVG.