Visa openness refers to the ease with which travellers can obtain authorisation to travel to and enter a country, pending final determination by the destination country’s immigration officials. The more visa-open a country, the easier it is for a traveller to visit that country.
There are different degrees of visa openness. A more visa-open country has a generally more liberal or relaxed visa policy for visitors, meaning that visitors either do not need a visa to enter its territory, or can obtain a visa upon arrival. In contrast, a visa-restrictive country requires visitors to obtain a visa before they travel. In such instances, visitors may be required to obtain a visa from an embassy, a consulate, or another source. Many countries have implemented electronic visa (e-visa) systems, adding a measure of convenience, but still requiring the visa application process to be completed ahead of travel.
Where percentage scores are assigned, this generally relates to the share of African citizens that a country’s particular visa policy applies to, or in the case of visa reciprocity, the proportion that a country’s visa policies are reciprocated by every other country within the region.
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.
The AVOI 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. Here 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.
Scores and rankings. AVOI scores range from 0 to 1, where 0 applies to a country with the most restrictive visa policies (that require a visa to be obtained ahead of travel by all travellers), while a score of 1 applies when a country has removed visa restrictions for all other African citizens.
The higher a country’s index score (the closer to 1), the more “visa-open” the country is and the higher it ranks on the AVOI.
Categories and weightings. To calculate each country’s score, the AVOI assesses the visa policy each country applies to the citizens of each of the other 53 countries on the continent and classifies each policy in one of three categories. The AVOI gives each category a weighting:
Calculations. To compute the country’s score, the AVOI follows four steps:
1. It counts the number of countries that fall in each visa category (visa before travel, visa on arrival, visa-free).
2. It converts that number into a percentage of all countries in Africa.
3. It weighs each percentage according to the weighting given to each category.
4. It adds the figures.
Formula. AVOI score = [(% of African countries whose nationals must obtain a visa before travelling × 0) + (% of African countries whose nationals may obtain a visa on arrival × 0.8) + (% of African countries whose nationals are not required to obtain a visa × 1)]
An example
Country X requires the nationals of 13 countries to obtain a visa before travel; allows the nationals of 30 countries to obtain a visa on arrival; and it allows the nationals of 10 other countries to enter its territory visa-free. Country X’s score is calculated as follows:
AVOI score for Country X = [(13/53 × 0) + (30/53 × 0.8) + (10/53 × 1)] = 0.642
The AVOI collates and scores the visa policies of each African country as they apply to the casual short-term traveller from every other African country. These policies are generally applied on a differentiated basis, for example, most countries apply different visa regimes to different nationalities. The visa policies that are measured do not extend to the right of residence and occupation in another country, notwithstanding that some regions have attained higher levels of integration and have made significant advances in these aspects. By default, they also do not extend to other commercial activities that may, for example, require a business visa.
Assessing visa openness requires a consistent source of information. Since the report’s inception in 2016, visa policy data has been drawn from IATA, the representative body of the international airline industry, because it maintains a global database of countries’ passport, visa and health requirements pertaining to cross-border travel. It is thus of critical importance that countries cross-check the information that IATA shares with the industry, since it informs the advice given to travellers by their booking agents or displayed on travel websites and helps determine any pre-boarding restrictions that airlines may apply to prospective travellers, given certain liabilities that they hold as the carrier.
There are times when IATA information appears at odds with information shown on government websites or other resources. There are also times when information is outdated, not fully updated, or has not been communicated to IATA. At other times, new policies may not be fully in force yet, or old policies may continue to appear on different official websites.
To approach the data collection with consistency, this report uses the information as shown in relevant fields in the IATA database during the data collection period. In the absence of obvious errors, to deviate from this approach would risk potentially introducing unverified or even anecdotal sources of data, and other inconsistencies, even where at face value they may appear to be accurate.
The real-world experience of travellers may not always correlate with countries’ official visa policies. By definition, a visa merely authorises travel to a country but does not guarantee a right to entry. The final determination is the prerogative of immigration officials at the point of entry. Countries also differentiate visas according to purpose: for example, where travel is for business purposes, a visa may be required or is subject to different criteria. Likewise, standard visa entry typically does not grant the holder long-term stays or residence.
Visa policies (and what travellers experience) may, in practice, differ between points of entry, for example, travellers arriving on international airlines at a country’s commercial airport, and those that enter through land borders. At some borders, one may be subject to restrictions and requirements that are inconsistent with official visa policy. Certain land borders might even be traversed through un-regulated border crossings, follow other informal systems and customs, even without formal travel documents such as a national passport. At other times, the lived experience of travellers presents a far greater administrative burden than that which is expected based on official policy. Sudden border closures or unilateral travel restrictions continue to form part of the experience of many prospective cross-border travellers, be it because of broader conflict, local cross-border disputes, or a myriad of other factors.
Further, more travellers cross Africa’s land borders by car, bus, truck, bicycle or on foot, than through formal and usually highly regulated international air travel. The data and findings of the AVOI must therefore be considered within this broader context.
