Visa Openness Index urges eased travel to aide Africa’s recovery from pandemic slum

NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 16 – Opening up Africa’s skies to facilitate travel will drive investment and an economic rebound, according to the authors of the 2021 Africa Visa Openness Index.

Published yearly since 2016, the Index measures African countries’ openness to travellers from elsewhere on the continent.

The 2021 edition found that the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic substantially impacted free movement.

“In this new era of travel, safety and hygiene protocols have become as important as travel documentation and visa formalities,” said the report, jointly released by the African Development Bank and the African Union Commission on Monday.

“The evidence is clear: the countries that make it simpler for Africa’s business people, tourists, students, and workers to visit their territories, are the countries that stand to attract more investment and talent. They are the countries whose economies will recover quickly,” said Khaled Sherif, the African Development Bank’s Vice-President for Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery.

Monique Nsanzabaganwa, Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission, said: “The COVID-19 crisis has made one thing very certain: Africa needs to be more self-sufficient. To get there, we need to boost intra-African trade, and that means fewer visa restrictions.”

The 2021 Visa Openness Index also made a compelling case for streamlining the visa process for young Africans.

“All young people need is the freedom to move around the continent and support as they develop into Africa’s entrepreneurs and business leaders,” it stated.

The Index showed that 36 countries had improved or at least maintained their Visa Openness Index score since 2016.

Over 80 per cent of the countries that made gains in openness were low-income or lower-middle-income countries.

The report mentioned Namibia, Morocco, and Tunisia among countries that had made the most progress in visa openness in 2021.

Overall, the report noted Africa is almost evenly split between countries with a liberal visa policy and those that partially restrict entry from other African states.

A quarter of African countries welcome some or all African visitors visa-free; another quarter, roughly, permit some or all African visitors to obtain a visa on arrival, according to the report.

Twenty-four countries were reported to be offering electronic visas, up from 15 five in previous years.

The Africa Visa Openness Index aligns with the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the Protocol on the Free Movement of People and, in particular, advances the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area, with a market of 1.3 billion people.

“By supporting the free movement of people, we make it easier for Africans to do business in Africa. Free movement of people, especially workers, could help plug skills gaps, while enabling countries to fix skills mismatches in their labour markets,” said Jean-Guy Afrika, the Officer-In-Charge of the Regional Integration Coordination Office at the African Development Bank.