2022 Africa Visa Openness Index shows improvement in visa policy across the continent | African Development Bank

The 2022 Africa Visa Openness Index (AVOI) report shows that African countries are making progress in their freedom of travel policies, most of which were severely curtailed by the Covid-19 crisis.

The annual publication prepared by the African Development Bank Group in partnership with the African Union Commission is now in its 7th^e edition and was launched on Sunday on the sidelines of the 2022 African Economic Conference in Mauritius.

The report tracks African governments’ visa policies on three main criteria: whether entry is visa-free for citizens from other African countries, whether a visa can be obtained on arrival, and whether travelers must apply for a visa before traveling to other African countries. to land.

This year’s report underscores the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic over the past two years (2020 and 2021), during which most countries restricted travel, both domestically and for international travel. Restrictions on international travel have ranged from closing entire borders to quarantines, screening measures and banning visitors from countries deemed “high risk”.

Domestic restrictions include a range of measures, such as inter-county travel bans, bans on non-essential travel, curfews and rules restricting gatherings.

The 2022 report reflects renewed signs of progress: 10 countries have improved their visa openness scores over the past year, and visa openness on the continent now exceeds that of the year prior to the Covid-19 pandemic and is in line with the peak score achieved in 2020.

Progressive visa policies that increase visa-free entry or visa-on-arrival will ensure that this positive trend continues. The use of technology and greater adoption of e-Visa systems will help accelerate the ease with which travelers can cross the border.

Highlights of the 2022 Africa Visa Openness Index

African travel will be more open to African citizens in 2022, with fewer restrictions overall. There is now an equal division between travel that is visa-free and travel where a visa can be obtained upon arrival in the destination country.

• Three countries – Benin, The Gambia and the Seychelles – offer visa-free entry to Africans from all other countries. In 2016 and 2017, only one country did.
• 24 African countries offer an eVisa—5 more than five years ago.
• 36 countries have improved or maintained their Visa Openness Index score since 2016.
• 50 countries have maintained or improved their Visa Openness Index score from 2021, mostly after removing some of the visa policy restrictions put in place during the pandemic.
• 48 of the 54 countries – the vast majority of African countries – now offer visa-free travel for nationals of at least one other African country.
• 42 countries offer visa-free travel to nationals of at least 5 other African countries.

Interestingly, low-income countries make up a large portion of the top 20 countries with liberal visa policies in 2022: 45% of the countries in the top 20 on the index are classified as low-income countries, while another 45% of countries are classified as lower middle income.

EVisas allow potential travelers to apply for a visa from the comfort of their home or workplace before travelling, streamline the application process, reduce time at the border, provide greater security before travelling, reduce the need to obtain a passport for processing at consulates, and make travel safer and more secure.

Dr. Monique Nsanzabaganwa, deputy chair of the African Union Commission, said: “This edition links free movement to the development of regional value chains, investment, trade in services and the AfCFTA. There is greater recognition that human mobility is key to Africa’s integration efforts.”

Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, acting vice president of the African Development Bank Group, responsible for regional development, integration and business delivery, commented: “The Africa Visa Openness Index has tracked visa openness as a measure of freedom of movement since 2016. edition – the seventh – shows that many African countries have greatly simplified their visa regime over the past year.”

The 2022 edition of the report highlights three countries that have made the most progress on visa openness, namely Burundi, Djibouti and Ethiopia. Ethiopia, in particular, has risen several places on the index to regain its position among the top 20 best performing countries on the continent after the lifting of the temporary measures put in place in 2021.

What is new is that the report provides an analysis of the free movement of persons at the level of the regional economic community in Africa. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the East African Community are the most open communities, with ECOWAS hosting eight of the top ten countries.

Commenting on the report, Jean-Guy Africa, acting director of the African Development Bank Group, responsible for the Regional Integration Coordination Office, said: “The Africa Visa Openness Index has tracked the evolution of visa regimes on the African continent from before the pandemic until today. As the 2022 report shows, African countries are dismantling many of the measures imposed during the pandemic. Overall, the continent has indeed returned to a level of visa openness last seen just before the pandemic began.”

About the Africa Visa Openness Index

The Africa Visa Openness Index measures the extent to which African countries are open to travelers from other African countries. Published annually since 2016, the AVOI tracks changes in country scores over time to show how national policies are evolving on freedom of movement across Africa.

Download the 2022 Africa Visa Openness Report and learn more at www.visaopenness.org

Photos from the launch event