Many African countries are making strides in bringing together the vision of the AfCFTA, which is to be a socio-economically well-integrated continent.
In the latest "Africa Visa Openness Report", visa openness across Africa stands at its highest level as 39 African countries have improved upon their immigration policies to welcome travellers from other parts of the continent and foster collaboration across borders.
Visa openness refers to the ease with which travellers can obtain authorization to travel and enter a country, pending final determination by the destination country's immigration officials.
So far, some countries have removed the option of obtaining a visa on arrival, requiring travellers to obtain a visa (traditional or electronic) before embarking on their journey.
In other instances, a significant number of countries have embraced new technologies and launched processes of digitising the travel and immigration process, which, although well intended, added additional layers of requirements to the traveller and did not facilitate ease of movement.
According to the report, Sierra Leone and Angola have shown the greatest increase in their AVOI score. Sierra Leone now offers citizens of 15 countries visa-free access, a slight increase over 2023 (13).
Angola has added nine countries to its list of citizens who qualify for visa-free access, almost doubling the number of countries whose citizens previously qualified for the same (2023: 10).
Overall, 48 of 54 countries currently offer visa-free entry privileges to the citizens of at least one other African country, a testament to the shared commitment to ease travel.
In this year's ranking, Benin, The Gambia, Rwanda and the Seychelles continue to occupy the top spot on the Africa Visa Openness Index (AVOI).
16 of the top-20 ranked countries are located in West and Eastern Africa in equal parts (8 in West Africa and 8 in East Africa). North Africa is represented by one country (Mauritania), whilst Southern Africa accounts for three countries, namely Madagascar, Mauritius and Mozambique.
Here are the top 10 most visa-friendly countries in Africa for 2024.
| Benin | 1 | 53 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Seychelles | 1 | 53 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| The Gambia | 1 | 53 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Rwanda | 1 | 53 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Ghana | 5 | 26 | 25 | 2 | 0.868 |
| Nigeria | 6 | 17 | 36 | 0 | 0.864 |
| Cabo Verde | 6 | 17 | 36 | 0 | 0.864 |
| Guinea-Bissau | 8 | 40 | 0 | 0.849 | |
| Mauritania | 9 | 8 | 45 | 0 | 0.830 |
| Mauritius | 10 | 27 | 21 | 5 | 0.826 |
The AVOI measures the extent to which African countries are open to visitors from other African countries. For each country, the AVOI calculates the number of African countries whose citizens must obtain a visa before travelling there, the number of countries whose citizens may obtain a visa upon arrival, and the number of countries whose citizens can enter visa-free. Each country is then assigned an AVOI score and ranked accordingly.
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