Rwanda further eases entry for visitors

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The visa restrictions imposed by African countries during the Covid-19 pandemic have been fully reversed, with 2023 marking the highest average Africa Visa Openness Index (Avoi) score to date. The latest index shows that 15 countries improved their score, up from 10 that had improved between 2021 and 2022.

Visa openness is the ease with which visitors enter their country of destination. Four African countries have a visa-free entry policy, up from three in 2022. Benin tops the chart followed by The Gambia, Rwanda and Seychelles.

Rwanda improved from a score of 0.868 in 2022 to 1.000 in 2023, rising two places to number three, as Benin knocked Seychelles out of the top.

In the East African Community (EAC), other top scorers are Burundi, Tanzania and Somalia. Kenya, which won accolades when, on December 12, 2023, President William Ruto announced visa-free entry for everyone starting January, ranks below average, with a score of 0.396 on the index produced by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the African Union Commission (AUC).

Read: Ethiopia passport falls on openness indexRwanda, Burundi, Tanzania and Somalia rank among the top 20.

The other EAC partner states—Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan—rank below Kenya, at 0.377, 0.121 and 0.087, respectively.

Of the 20 countries that rank the highest, eight have adopted an e-visa system.“The African Union is proud of countries’ progress on freeing the movement of people. This year’s Africa Visa Openness Report reveals that Africa is continuing its upwards trajectory on freeing the movement of people on the continent,” said AUC Minata Samate Cessouma, Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development.

AfDB President Dr Akinwumi Adesina said visa openness is necessary for trade.“Trade is not done in a vacuum, it’s people that trade. Apart from the fact that you need connectivity, you also need freedom for people to move from one place to the other,” he said.