An annual report prepared by the African Development Bank Group in collaboration with the African Union Commission, on the Africa Visa Openness Index 2022, shows that African countries have made progress in freedom of movement policies, most of which had been severely restricted by the Covid-19 crisis.
The report identifies the visa policies adopted by African governments according to three main criteria: visa exemption for citizens of other African countries, the possibility of obtaining a visa on arrival and the obligation for travelers to obtain a visa before traveling to other African countries.
The document shows that 10 countries have improved their visa openness score over the past year, and the continent’s visa openness now exceeds that recorded in the year before the Covid-19 pandemic. 19 and aligns with the maximum score achieved in 2020.
Specifically, the report provides the following details:
• Three countries (Benin, Gambia and Seychelles) offer visa-free entry to Africans from all other countries. In 2016 and 2017, only one country did.
• 24 African countries offer an e-Visa, 5 more than five years ago.
• 36 countries have improved or maintained their visa openness index score since 2016.
• 50 countries maintained or improved their Visa Openness Index score compared to 2021, generally after removing some of the visa policy restrictions put in place during the pandemic.
• 48 countries out of all African countries now allow visa-free travel to nationals of at least one other African country.
• 42 countries offer visa waiver to nationals of at least 5 other African countries.
The document also highlights an « interesting fact », according to which low-income countries represent a significant part of the top 20 of the ranking of countries with a liberal visa policy in 2022: 45% of the countries appearing in the top 20 of the index are classified as low-income countries, and 45% are in the lower tier of middle-income countries.
The 2022 edition, the seventh of the report, highlights the three countries that have made the most progress in their visa openness, namely Burundi, Djibouti and Ethiopia. Ethiopia, in particular, moved up several places in the index to regain its position among the continent’s top 20 performers after removing temporary measures instituted in 2021.
“African countries are dismantling many of the measures imposed during the pandemic. Indeed, overall, the continent has returned to a level of openness on visas that was last observed just before the onset of the pandemic,” remarked the Acting Director of the Bureau of Regional Integration Coordination, Jean-Guy Afrika, speaking about the report.
For the Vice-President of the African Union Commission, Monique Nsanzabaganwa, this edition of the report establishes a link between free movement and the development of regional value chains, investments, trade in services and the AfCFTA. It is increasingly recognized that the mobility of people is essential to Africa’s integration efforts. »
By OMA Newsletter N° 974 of 13/12/2022
Article published under the direction of Dr. Najib Kettani
The OMA, NGO with an Intercontinental vocation
For the development of cultural exchanges
Valuing human potential
The promotion and consolidation of Africa’s development, and
Inter-African integration
