African aviation regulators fail to meet safety reporting mandates; accident rate remains

Kamil Alawadhi, regional vice-president for Africa and the Middle East at the International Air Transport Association (Iata), put the challenge plainly at last week’s Aviation Africa Summit in Nairobi: Africa records the world’s highest aviation accident rate, yet only 16% of accident reports filed between 2020 and 2025 were completed and published in line with International Civil Aviation Organisation (Icao) requirements. That compliance gap, he argued, sits at the heart of a broader governance failure that is holding the continent’s aviation sector back.

The summit brought together airline CEOs, airport representatives, aviation lawyers, business aviation operators, manufacturers and supply chain representatives to assess the state of the continent’s aviation ecosystem. Their collective diagnosis was structural, not incidental.

Alawadhi highlighted the scale of the regulatory shortfall first. The implementation rate of Icao standards and recommended practices across Sub-Saharan Africa falls below the global average. He called on African governments to strengthen compliance and ensure that investigations are completed and findings published promptly, framing both as non-negotiable obligations rather than aspirational targets.

The cost picture compounds the oversight problem. Taxes and charges run at least 15% above the global average. Fuel costs are 17% higher than the global average and account for 40% of operating costs on the continent, compared with just 25% globally. Those figures reflect, in part, policy choices about how aviation is taxed and regulated, not simply market conditions.

Alan Peaford, chair of Times Aerospace Events, identified the underlying architecture as the core obstacle. “Africa cannot, and will not, realise the full promise of its economic integration without a stronger aviation sector,” he said. Fragmented regulation and restricted market access continue to limit intra-African connectivity, alongside currency pressures, limited access to finance and infrastructure that has struggled to keep pace with demand.

Alawadhi was direct about where responsibility lies. “Improving aviation is a choice made by governments, regulators, airports, airlines and industry partners. It is a decision to create the conditions for aviation to succeed,” he said. “Progress comes from policy decisions, investment decisions and a commitment to work together.”

He pointed to Iata’s Focus Africa initiative, launched in 2023, as a mechanism for bringing governments, regulators, airlines, airports and development partners into a shared framework. Since its launch, he cited encouraging signs: improved safety performance and a growing number of governments adopting digital border management tools. Neither trend is self-sustaining without continued regulatory commitment.

Safety, Alawadhi said, is the foundation on which every other policy objective rests. “Safety is aviation’s most important responsibility. Everything else depends on it.” Closing the gap between African and global safety standards requires stronger regulatory oversight and greater adoption of proven global practices, with accident investigation and reporting demanding particular government attention and resources.

Infrastructure decisions carry their own accountability dimension. “The most successful aviation projects are not always the biggest or the most expensive. They are the ones that eliminate bottlenecks, improve efficiency, reduce costs and create capacity for growth,” Alawadhi said. The framing matters: investment choices made by governments and airport authorities today will determine whether the continent’s aviation network can absorb projected demand.

The fundamental policy question Alawadhi posed to African governments was whether aviation should be treated primarily as a revenue source or as an engine of economic development. Countries that prioritize connectivity, he argued, benefit from stronger trade, tourism and investment growth.

By contrast, the status quo carries compounding costs. Both Peaford and Alawadhi identified substantial opportunities ahead, including the development of globally competitive aviation hubs, growth in air cargo and logistics, expansion of sustainable aviation fuel production and the use of digital technology to improve passenger experience and operational efficiency. Whether those opportunities are captured will depend, in large part, on the regulatory and policy decisions that African governments make in the near term.