The Africa Visa Openness Index 2023, unveiled this week, signifies significant progress in visa openness policies across the continent. The report highlights substantial advancements since its last publication in December 2022.
In 2023, the visa openness index achieved its highest-ever score, surpassing pre-pandemic levels observed before the widespread border closures stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-21. The index evaluates African countries’ openness to visitors from other African nations.
Data from the report reveals that in 2023, 50 countries maintained or enhanced their 2022 scores, with only four countries showing a decline. Notably, since its inception in 2016, 36 countries have improved their scores on the index. Remarkably, four nations—Rwanda, Benin, The Gambia, and Seychelles—have eradicated visa requirements for African travellers, marking an increase from three countries last year.
Jean-Guy Afrika, Acting Director of the African Development Bank’s Regional Integration Coordination Office, emphasised that the enhanced visa openness facilitates familial visits, educational pursuits, business ventures, and tourism within the continent. Afrika noted its contribution to fostering a prosperous, unified Africa, where individuals can harness their potential without the constraints of overly stringent visa regulations.
Key Highlights of the 2023 Africa Visa Openness Index:
– Achieving its peak in 2023, surpassing previous records.
– Four countries emerged as champions by abolishing visas for citizens from all African nations.
– Twenty-four countries now offer e-visas, nearly tripling the count from 2016.
– West African nations dominate the top rankings, with seven of the top ten performers hailing from this region.
Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, Vice-President for Regional Development, Integration, and Business Delivery at the African Development Bank, celebrated the attainment of visa openness levels surpassing pre-pandemic standards. Olugbade highlighted the potential of freer movement in catalysing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), advocating for unhindered movement of goods, services, capital, and people across borders.
Rwanda emerged as a frontrunner in 2023, embarking on a progressively liberal visa regime over eight years. Rwanda, which allowed visa on arrival for citizens of nearly 90% of African countries in 2016, has now eliminated visa requirements for the entire continent, notably easing travel for 35 African countries previously requiring visas on arrival.
The report accentuates Kenya’s plan to eliminate visa requirements for African travellers by the end of 2023, indicating a positive stride toward increased travel facilitation.
The study delves into the visa openness within the African Union-recognised Regional Economic Communities (RECs), highlighting improvements in six of the eight RECs over the past year. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) spearheads the regional score with the highest visa-free reciprocity rate, facilitating borderless travel for its member states in 97% of travel scenarios.
The report underscores the need to overcome remaining hurdles, recommending streamlined visa procedures, expanded e-visa systems, and extending visa-free travel policies. These advancements are crucial not only for seamless travel but also for fostering enhanced trade, cross-border investments, and shared prosperity.
Enhanced visa openness is pivotal for the success of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), underscoring the importance of unimpeded movement in achieving the continent’s integration goals. Ambassador Minata Samate Cessouma, Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs, and Social Development at the African Union Commission, emphasised the interconnectedness of trade in goods and services with the smooth movement of people across African borders, highlighting AfCFTA’s potential to integrate the continent.
The Africa Visa Openness Index, an annual publication since 2016, tracks changes in countries’ visa openness policies, reflecting the evolution of national policies on freedom of movement across Africa.
Read the report here: https://www.visaopenness.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/AVOI%E2%80%932023_Final_R18_7dec23.pdf
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Source: Africa Visa Openness Index
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