The 2020 Africa Visa Openness Index (AVOI) report has shown that the majority of African countries are making progress in their visa policies despite the Coronavirus lockdowns and travel disruptions.
According to the data provided in the AVOI report, 93 per cent of African countries have improved their score compared to 2021. In addition, the same report has shown that two-thirds of the African countries have adopted more liberal visa policies compared to 2016, VisaGuide.World reports.
African Development Bank Group explains that the report follows visa policies that have been adopted by the African government on three main criteria and it underlines the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic in the last two years.
Based on the set criteria, the report has shown that a total of ten countries have improved their visa openness score and it has pointed out that progressive visa policies will guarantee that the positive trend will continue in the future too.
In addition to the above-mentioned, the report has shown that African travel has become more open to the continent’s citizens in 2022 and it has emphasized that now there is an even split between places that can be visited visa-free and those where the visa can be obtained upon arrival.
Currently, three countries – the Gambia, Seychelles, and Benin – permit visa-free entry for nationals of all African countries.
Another 24 African countries offer an eVisa, representing a sharp increase compared to five years ago when only five of them did so, and another 36 countries have improved their Visa Openness Index score since 2016.
Furthermore, data provided in the report has shown that 50 other countries have improved their Visa Openness Index score since 2021 and the same has revealed that 42 countries offer visa-free travel to nationals of at least five other countries located in the same continent.
Commenting on the figures, the African Union Commission Deputy Chairperson Dr Monique Nsanzabaganwa, said that mobility is key to the integration efforts of Africa.
“This edition links free movement to the development of regional value chains, investments, trade in services and the AfCFTA. There is greater recognition that human mobility is key to Africa’s integration efforts,” the statement of Nsanzabaganwa reads.
Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, who serves as the Acting Vice President in charge of Regional Development at the African Development Bank Group also commented on the report. Akin-Olugbade stressed that this year’s edition shows that many African countries have greatly simplified their visa regime in the last year, and applauded the positive results.
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