Tanzanian Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa announced on Monday that the East African nation has been ranked the fourth in aviation safety in Africa after Nigeria, Kenya, and Cote d'Ivoire.

Majaliwa said Tanzania scooped 86.7 percentage points in an assessment conducted in May 2023 by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

"This is a testimony that our country's efforts to reinforce aviation safety are paying dividends," said Majaliwa when he opened the 20th anniversary of the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA) in Dar es Salaam, the business hub of Tanzania.

He said Tanzania ranked fourth in aviation safety after ICAO aviation experts had inspected the Kilimanjaro International Airport in Kilimanjaro region, the Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam, and the Abeid Amani Karume International Airport in Zanzibar.

According to ICAO, Tanzania's aviation safety had been rising from 37.8 percent in 2013, 69.04 percent in 2019 to 86.7 percent in 2023.

Due to its rising aviation safety, Tanzania has been recording the rising number of air passengers using its airports, said Majaliwa.

As far as South Africa’s aviation safety track record goes, the country received an award from the African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC) for its exceptional preliminary International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) audit results.

“AFCAC is the African Union agency charged with regulating civil aviation on the continent and the preliminary results of South Africa's civil aviation safety system and supervision capabilities exceeded 90 percent, earning the country this distinction from AFCAC. Globally, the average rate of Effective Implementation is 67.50 percent,” said Government Communications and Information System (GCIS) in a statement.