African countries are increasingly introducing non‑tariff barriers that restrict the free movement of people, even as overall visa openness improves, the 2025 Africa Visa Openness Index (AVOI) report shows.

 

These Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) include introduction of more e‑Visas or electronic travel authorisations, varying visa fees, mandatory yellow fever certificates, and unnecessary paperwork at immigration desks, airports, and border entry points; in addition to new fees charged on arriving or departing travellers.

They have cumulatively hurt the very policy of seeking to allow free movement of people. For example, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania all demand mandatory yellow fever certificates from arrivals, whether citizens of foreigners.

Tanzania charges $90 fee on air tickets of arriving passengers and also imposes permit charges on passengers arriving for business meetings.

Across the continent, the Gambia is among the most open countries just behind Rwanda. But it still charges a $40 fee on travellers for airport development costs.

Overall, 2025 marks the tenth consecutive year that the AVOI has tracked Africa’s visa policies. According to the report, in 28.2 percent of all country‑to‑country travel, African citizens can now visit another country without a visa, up from 20 percent in 2016.

However, visas remain compulsory ahead of travel in 51 percent of scenarios, down from 55 percent a decade ago but still above the halfway mark.“This invites introspection: while overall there has been significant progress in easing intra‑African travel, there remains a long way to go,” the report states. “This suggests that countries are resorting to more restrictive visa policies, either individually or more broadly, by switching from visa‑on‑arrival to e‑Visa facilities, which extend the time required ahead of travel and impact freedom of movement.”Over the past decade, Benin, Seychelles, The Gambia, and more recently Rwanda have been trailblazers in visa openness, offering visa‑free access to the rest of the continent. Yet travel scenarios subject to visa formalities ahead of departure have risen from 1,348 in 2024 to 1,463 in 2025.

Speaking at the AVOI engagement in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, on 12 December 2025, Gabby Asare Otchere‑Darko, Executive Chairman and Founder of the Africa Prosperity Network (APN), underlined support for visa openness as a foundation for African economic competitiveness and prosperity.“There is a non‑tariff cost to applying for a visa. It immediately restricts bilateral trade, placing delays and costs on transactions. Countries that impose such restrictions are less competitive than those that do not,” he said, noting that intra‑community trade in the EU exceeds 60 percent, compared with below 20 percent in Africa.

Closer scrutiny of the AVOI 2025 data shows a significant shift from visa‑on‑arrival facilities to visas required ahead of travel, rather than towards visa‑free status.

Four countries—Guinea‑Bissau, Mauritania, Nigeria, and Somalia—moved from broad visa‑on‑arrival policies to requiring visas in advance, a step backwards for Africa’s visa openness.

Guinea‑Bissau and Somalia have since launched e‑Visa portals, bringing the total number of countries offering such systems to 31.“An e‑Visa offers more convenience than a traditional visa. Nonetheless, it is still required ahead of travel and treated as such, affecting a country’s AVOI score and sometimes causing a significant drop in ranking,” the report notes.

Internationally, ETAs were initially adopted to allow countries to collect advance information on visa‑exempt travellers. “If African countries that already grant visa‑free or visa‑on‑arrival access adopt ETAs, it could become a regressive step for free movement,” the report warns.

The use of e‑Visa systems has increased significantly, from 26 countries in 2024 to 31 in 2025. This year’s AVOI shows a combined visa openness score of 0.445—lower than the previous three years and on par with 2021.

Otchere‑Darko cited evidence linking restrictive visa regimes to weaker bilateral business performance, making the case for a visa‑free Africa as a prerequisite for regional integration and AfCFTA implementation. He also highlighted the need for mutual recognition of skills to enable professionals to work across borders without retraining.

Although the AU introduced a continental passport, few citizens hold it, and it is not fully recognised. “It is faster to be cleared at airports with a national passport than with an AU passport,” Otchere‑Darko observed. He called for a campaign for “One visa‑free Africa”, linked to the Yamoussoukro Decision of 1999 and the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) protocol of 2018.

He also urged implementation of the AfCFTA protocol on digital trade to enable seamless cross‑border mobile money transactions. “If you are a dressmaker in Abidjan, you should be able to advertise on Instagram for a customer in Durban to pay in rand, while you receive payment in CFA francs,” he said.

Five countries introduced new visa requirements in 2025 for citizens who previously travelled visa‑free: Algeria (1), Angola (1), Benin (5), Tunisia (1), and Uganda (2). Compared with 2023 and 2024, the number of policy reversals has increased.

“These systems can improve efficiency and border security, but they are costly, complex, and make travel more difficult for ordinary Africans.”NTBs continue to hinder free movement. Between Kenya and Tanzania, for example, the mandatory yellow fever certificate remains unresolved despite repeated policy pronouncements.

On its reintroduction for EAC visitors, Kenya’s Tourism Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Miano said she would follow up with the Ministry of Health. “We don’t want to win on one hand and lose on the other,” she said.

Tanzania also charges visa fees for business travellers despite the EAC Common Market protocol permitting free entry.

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