Visa Openness in Africa

Benin, Seychelles and The Gambia are the most open countries in Africa when it comes to travel for African citizens. According to the 2022 Africa Visa Openness Report, the three countries do not require a visa from citizens from any country on the continent. This is in stark contrast to Egypt and Sudan, which rank in the last places on the list, requiring a visa from citizens from all other countries.

Intra-continental travel is becoming easier for African citizens, with 36 of Africa’s 54 countries having improved or maintained their visa openness score since 2016. This is partly thanks to the uptake of e-visas, increasing from 9 countries offering the service in 2016, when the first report was published, to 24 nations, including South Africa and Morocco, as of last year.

Regionally, West Africa counted the largest share of top-performing countries in 2022, with 40 percent (8 countries) of all the top performers, while only one North African country and zero Central African countries appeared in the top 20.

Lower-income countries are also more likely to have adopted progressive policies that encourage ease of movement, with eighteen of the 20 best performing countries in 2022 being either low-income or lower-middle-income economies. Landlocked countries were also predominantly among the better performing.

Visas can be costly and time consuming to apply for. They can be a barrier to moving around the continent, impacting not only tourism, but also choices on where to study, as well as where to trade and develop businesses. For these reasons, the writers of the report, on behalf of the African Union and African Development Bank Group, are calling to make a visa on arrival the standard not the exception, as well as other suggestions, including the implementation of e-visas more widely, to create regional bloc visas, to offer longer term visas for regular and repeat travelers, and to simplify visa process by lowering fees and requiring fewer documents. The authors also support recommendations such as a regional passport or national identity card, an African passport for business people, or The African Union passport for all African citizens.

Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, Acting Vice President, Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery African Development Bank, explains that freedom of movement is more than an economic issue: “It also promotes social cohesion and improves African citizens' quality of life.”

According to a 2017 article for the Africa Renewal extension of the UN website, possible reasons that the concept of a visa-free Africa has not caught on in several countries include fears of an increase in smuggling, illegal immigration, terrorism and the spread of disease as well as a negative impact on local job markets.