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Africa: visa-free travel implemented to boost domestic tourism

3 mins read
January 17, 2024

The continent is expected to see an increase in tourism numbers in 2024, as more and more countries continue to open their borders by relaxing visa requirements.

Global summit Rwanda tourism
23rd World Tourism Board Summit in Kigali, Rwanda | © World Travel & Tourism Council

According to predictions by The Economist Intelligence Unit - the research and analysis division of The Economist Group — certain areas of Africa are expected to be among the fastest-growing tourist areas in the world in 2024.

his growth is to be driven by significant investment in the sector, strong demand for African destinations in both established and emerging markets, and an easing of visa restrictions.

The African Development Bank’s Africa Visa Openness Index 2023 shows that 50 countries have now improved or maintained their openness scores. This increase has been attributed to the proliferation of agreements between countries and, in some cases, between several countries to remove or completely relax visa restrictions. Rwanda and Kenya are the latest to completely abolish visa requirements for all African travelers, joining Gambia, Benin and the Seychelles.

“Africans are the future of tourism”

Rwandan President Paul Kagame announced the measure at the 23rd World Tourism Board Summit in Kigali on 2 November 2023, declaring that “Africans are the future of global tourism and Rwanda is ready to welcome them with open arms.”

Speaking at the Youth Connect Africa Summit on 9 December 2023, Kenyan President William Ruto argued that Africa should abolish visa requirements for its people, explaining that visa requirements had been imposed by European countries, which have since abandoned them.

In October 2023, Angola extended its visa-free regime to several African countries. In March of the same year, Botswana and Namibia agreed to allow their respective citizens to cross their borders simply by using a national identity card instead of a passport.

Later in December, Zimbabwe and Botswana signed an agreement allowing their citizens to stay for up to 90 days a year in either country without the need for a passport, visa or work permit. Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have also agreed to abolish visa requirements for their respective citizens. South Sudan has switched to a visa-on-arrival regime for citizens of Burundi and Rwanda.

“Maintaining the momentum in favor of visa liberalization is crucial to realizing the vision of Africa we want. The adoption of liberal visa policies will not only facilitate smooth travel, but will also contribute significantly to improved trade in goods and services, cross-border investment and shared trade,” Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, African Development Bank (AfDB) Group Vice President for Regional Development, Integration and Service Delivery, recently told Kenya’s The Star newspaper.

Nearly 10,000 ETAs applications in Kenya

Kenya’s transition to a visa-free regime saw the country’s immigration department receive almost ten thousand applications for new electronic travel authorizations (ETAs) allowing foreign nationals to visit or transit the country by air in the first week of January 2024 alone.

A survey by the country’s Tourism Research Institute shows that African nationals visiting Kenya in 2023 accounted for a 42% share, compared to 34% for Europeans, 11% for North Americans and 9% for Asian nationals, respectively.

Data for 2023 from Tanzania’s National Bureau of Statistics shows that the majority of African arrivals came from Kenya with 128,753 visitors, followed by Burundi (69,505), Zambia (38,394), Rwanda (37,269) and Uganda (28,594) — between January and August 2023.

During this period, arrivals from Kenya were higher than those from the United States of America (84,541) and France (72,009). Arrivals from Burundi were higher than those from Germany (57,798), the UK (51,505) or Italy (51,056).

A similar trend was observed in South Africa, with data from Statistics South Africa showing that tourists from the rest of Africa accounted for 75.8% of all arrivals, equivalent to 3.6 million tourists between January and July 2023.

Removing visa restrictions is not enough

However, there are many other barriers to intra-African trade beyond visa restrictions.

The cost of domestic travel has been the subject of much debate in recent years, with tourism professionals suggesting that it is holding back Africa’s immense potential as a tourist destination. According to the International Air Traffic Association (IATA), intra-African flights cost 45% more than flights worldwide.

David Frost, CEO of Satsa, the tourism association for southern Africa, told Travel Weekly: “Affordable intra-African flights would ultimately contribute to Africa’s competitiveness in the tourism market, strengthening its position on the world stage. Travelers would then be more likely to book combined travel itineraries covering several destinations. Maintaining our competitive edge depends on strengthening the continent’s air capacity”.

Besides, political climates often dictate the agenda when it comes to opening (or not opening) Africa’s borders. A case in point is Burundi’s recent decision to close its border with Rwanda, accused of supporting armed rebel groups. The dispute comes just two years after Uganda and Rwanda reopened their border crossings following a three-year closure prompted by Kigali’s claims that Kampala was supporting dissidents seeking to overthrow the Rwandan government.

This week, Tanzania’s Civil Aviation Authority suspended all Kenya Airways passenger flights between Nairobi and Dar es Salaam: A response to Kenya’s recent rejection of Tanzania’s request to allow its airline, Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL), to operate cargo flights between Nairobi and third countries.

A report published in November by the World Travel & Tourism Council, a London-based forum for the travel and tourism industry, states that travel and tourism could add 168 billion dollars to the continent’s economy and create more than 18 million jobs over the next 10 years. This could be achieved by improving air transport infrastructure, facilitating visa issuance and strengthening tourism marketing, the report concludes.

Julie Carballo

Julie Carballo is a journalist for Newsendip.

She used to work for the French newspaper Le Figaro and at the Italian bureau of the international press agency AFP.