Cape Verde, an archipelago of 10 islands in the central Atlantic Ocean, faced severe epidemics in densely populated areas before it implemented targeted interventions.

“(It) gives us hope that with existing tools, as well as new ones including vaccines, we can dare to dream of a malaria-free world,” WHO’s director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.

The WHO said that Cape Verde is the third country in the heavily affected African region, after Mauritius and Algeria, to eliminate the mosquito-borne disease.

It joins the ranks of 43 countries and one territory certified by the WHO.

“This (certification) has the potential to attract more visitors and boost socioeconomic activities in a country where tourism accounts for approximately 25% of GDP,” the statement said.

The WHO certification is granted when a country has demonstrated no locally transmitted cases of malaria in at least three years.