Visa-free travel in Africa for Africans: 2016 overview

According to the African Development Bank’s Africa Visa Openness Report (which measures and ranks countries by how easy it is for visitors from other African states to gain entry), there have been some improvements in terms of visa openness.

In 2016, over a third of countries introduced more liberal visa policies.

Seychelles remains in the top position, and is the only territory on the continent to grant visa-free access to all 54 African countries. Ghana has made the greatest progress. From 22nd place in 2015, the west African country has jumped to 6th place on the 2016 index. Former president John Dramani Mahama announced last year a decision to issue visas on arrival for African Union member states, valid for 30 days. Ghana now offers visa-free access to nearly a third of all African countries, and visas on arrival to about two-thirds.

Other countries such as South Africa, São Tomé et Príncipe, Senegal, Tunisia and Malawi have also improved their regulations.

South Africa has approved a 10-year multiple-entry visa for African businesspeople and academics, as well as São Tomé et Príncipe granting 13 African countries visa-free access. Senegal has joined the top 20 countries on the index (ranked in 15^th place), currently granting visa-free access to 42 countries (up from 16 in 2015). Tunisia now provides 21 countries visa-free entry, while Malawi offers liberal access to citizens of half the countries on the continent (up from a third in 2015).

 

Visa openness in Africa: Country ranking

Ranking	Country	Visa openness by number of countries
		No Visa required	Visa on arrival	Visa required
1	Seychelles	54	0	0
2	Uganda	18	36	0
3	Togo	16	38	0
4	Guinea Bissau	14	40	0
5	Cape Verde	16	37	1
6	Ghana	17	35	2
7	Mauritania	8	46	0
7	Mozambique	8	46	0
9	Mauritius	26	22	6
9	Rwanda	6	47	1
11	Djibouti	0	54	0
11	Madagascar	0	54	0
11	Comoros	0	54	0
11	Somalia	0	54	0
15	Kenya	18	30	6
15	Senegal	42	0	12
17	Tanzania	6	37	11
18	Gambia	28	0	26
19	Malawi	14	13	27
20	Burkina Faso	15	11	28
21	Zambia	13	13	28
21	Zimbabwe	17	8	29
23	Cote d’Ivoire	21	0	33
23	Tunisia	21	0	33
25	Guinea	20	0	34
25	Mali	20	0	34
27	Benin	18	0	36
27	Niger	18	0	36
27	Botswana	18	0	36
30	Nigeria	17	1	36
31	Swaziland	17	0	37
32	Lesotho	16	0	38
33	Sierra Leone	15	1	38
34	South Africa	14	0	40
34	Liberia	14	0	40
36	Namibia	13	0	41
36	São Tomé and Príncipe	13	0	41
38	Chad	11	2	41
39	Central Africa Republic	12	0	42
40	Congo republic	0	13	41
41	Morocco	9	0	45
42	Algeria	7	0	47
43	Democratic Republic of Congo	4	3	47
43	Egypt	0	8	46
45	Burundi	5	0	49
45	Cameroon	5	0	49
47	South Sudan	0	5	49
48	Gabon	3	1	50
49	Ethiopia	2	1	51
49	Eritrea	2	1	51
51	Sudan	1	2	51
52	Angola	1	1	52
53	Libya	1	0	53
54	Equatorial Guinea	0	0	54
54	Western Sahara	0	0	54

Source: www.howwemadeitinafrica.com