Kenya falls 17 spots to rank 46 in Africa Visa Openness Index

Kenya has been ranked position 46 out of 56 African countries in the latest Visa openness ranking.

The latest report by the African Union in partnership with the African Development Bank Group indicates Kenya scored 0.113 ahead of Cameroon, Algeria, Egypt and Sudan.

Kenya had ranked position 29 in the 2023 report.

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While Sahara scored the lowest at 0.030 to rank position 54, Sudan and Libya scored 0.038 to tie at position 52.

According to the report, Benin, Seychelles, The Gambia and Rwanda tied at position 1 with Ghana taking position five. Nigeria and Cabo Verde tied at position 6.

Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania and Mauritius followed in positions 8, 9 and 10 respectively.

The Africa Visa Openness Index measures the extent to which African countries are open to visitors from other African countries. It analyses each country’s visa requirements to show which African countries most facilitate travel to their territory.

"The individual scores, derived from countries’ different categories of visa policies, serve as proxy indicators of the ease with which citizens can travel to each country, and as a broad reflection of how welcoming countries are to the citizens of other African countries," read part of the report.

READ: Over 9,000 travellers apply for ETA to visit Kenya visa-free

The score for a country is calculated by aggregating the individual scores for the country’s visa policy as applied towards the citizens of every other African country.

The methodology primarily differentiates between policies that require travellers to apply for and obtain a visa ahead of travel, where travellers have the option of obtaining a visa on arrival at the port of entry in the destination country, and travel scenarios where entry is permitted without the requirement for a visa.

The report comes months after Kenya introduced the Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) system that allows visa-exempt foreign nationals to visit or transit through the country by air.

The system, which replaced the previous visa requirements aimed at providing a fair, faster, and reliable service that also addresses the country's security and other strategic interests.

However, the report indicates that Kenya's requirement for ETAs before travel made it more difficult for most travellers from other African countries to enter its territory hence lowering its score.

ALSO READ: Kenya receives first visa-free arrivals at JKIA

Looking at the continent overall, AfDB director Joy Kategekwa said the fact that "Africans continue to require visas for the most part to enter other African countries is one of the most profound contradictions to the continent’s aspirations on regional integration".

According to her, the report also investigated the question of [ETAs] which, notwithstanding intent, resemble features of a visa.

She said for instance, although there is no single country that does not want to reap the dividends of tourism given the continent’s abundance of some of the most historic attractions, visa restrictions make it difficult for Africans to contribute to each other’s tourism revenues.

“One thing that is clear is that Africa will not meet its development aspirations in the absence of regimes that promote mobility across the continent,” she said.

Last October, President Ruto had said Kenya would be going "visa-free" beginning in January this year, noting that the country was "the cradle of mankind".