From the Atlas Mountains to the desert safaris, traveling and exploring Africa is a unique experience. Charming, friendly, original, and energetic, visiting other African nations and cultures is perfect for those seeking a unique experience and a different outlook of the world.
However, the hassle to obtain a visa to your dream country often poses a hindrance. In this post, we talk about African countries you can visit without a visa using your African passport.
Our list is drawn from the African Development Bank’s Africa Visa Openness Report 2021 (AVOI). The Report ranks countries on an index from 0 to 1, using the visa policy of a country vis-à-vis the other 53 African countries. Countries with restrictive visa policies are rated closer to the 0 mark, while open nations receive ratings closer to 1. That said, with your African passport, which African countries should you be looking to fly to for a spontaneous getaway?
The African Visa Openness Index measures the ease of travel with an African passport (Image Credit: African development bank)
The Easiest Countries to Visit With an African Passport.
The AVOI 2021 ranking divides the easiest African nations to enter into three. They are:
African nations that offer Visa-free access to all Africans. These nations are: Benin Republic, Seychelles, and The Gambia. Comoros, the only African nation that offers visas on arrival to all Africans.
African nations that offer either visa-free access or visa on arrival to all Africans. These include: Senegal, Uganda, Ghana, Rwanda, Nigeria, and Guinea-Bissau. What’s it like traveling to these countries? Read on to find out.
1. Seychelles (Visa free for Africans)
2. Benin (Visa free for Africans)
3. Rwanda
4. Togo
5. Guinea-Bissau
6. Uganda
7. Ghana
8. Cape Verde
9. Kenya
10. Mozambique
The report recommended that solutions such as the African passport, visa-free regional blocs, multi-year visas, or visa-on-arrival schemes should continue to be promoted, considering that Africans still require visas to travel to just over half of other African countries.
The African Union this year championed the launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area and the Single African Air Transport Market.
The continental body hopes to promote air connectivity and make it faster, less expensive and easier for Africans to travel within Africa.
“Regional integration and trade based upon the free movement of persons, goods, services and capital is at the core of the business of the African Development Bank,” said Akinwumi A. Adesina, President of the African Development Bank Group.
Methodology
The Visa Openness Index assesses the progress African countries have realised in relaxing their visa regimes.
Analysis go into the visa requirements set by each member state of the African Union for other member states seeking to enter their borders.
The report aims to show at a glance which countries are facilitating travel for citizens of other African countries and how; whether they allow people to travel to their country without a visa; if travellers can get a visa on arrival in the country; or if visitors need to get a visa before travel.
Overall, when compared to 2017
Africans do not need a visa to travel to 25% of other African countries (up from 22%)
Visas on arrival can be obtained in 24% of other African countries (same as last year)
Africans need visas to travel to 51% of other African countries (down from 54%).
E-Visas: What Africans are Saying
Based on the AfDB Report, 24 countries in Africa currently offer e-visas to visiting Africans. To obtain e-visas, visitors are required to apply via the website of the destination country’s embassy in their country.
CONCLUSION
Traveling across Africa is becoming increasingly easier as economic integration goes on across the continent. These countries have lenient visa requirements for Africans, and with an African passport, all you need is a ticket. Which of these countries would you love to visit? Please let us know in the comments.
