The year 2024 witnessed important changes in AVOI scores. Of 54 countries on the continent, 17 have improved their AVOI score over the past year, building on the 15 countries that showed an improvement in the last edition. Twenty-nine (29) countries’ scores remain unchanged (2023: 35), while eight countries score lower in this edition (2023: 4). The net effect of these changes has been a slightly lower aggregate score than in 2023, down from 0.485 (2023) to 0.479 (2024). In the context of the AVOI, this score is on par with 2022, and higher than the aggregate score in the six prior years.
In 2024, several countries have implemented visa policy changes. Some have been bold, instituting positive visa reforms which have resulted in tangible progress towards a more open continent. Many have involved bilateral changes in visa policy, often on a reciprocal basis and implemented in a seemingly coordinated manner. In some instances, policy changes have been more nuanced, while still resulting in tangible benefits for those directly affected, especially on the introduction of e-visas.
Other policy changes have created new impediments that undermine the ease of movement, resulting in more burdensome travel for some citizens. Some of these policy changes relate to domestic or foreign policy, political, security or other concerns. For example, during 2024, some countries removed the option of obtaining a visa on arrival, requiring travellers to obtain a visa (traditional or electronic) before embarking on their journey. In other instances, a significant number of countries have embraced new technologies and launched processes of digitising the travel and immigration process, which although well intended, added additional layers of requirements to the traveller and did not facilitate ease of movement. The introduction of ETAs by some countries is a case in point.
Conflict in some parts of Africa plays a role in travel and migration more broadly, displacing people, forcing them to move, yet also impeding their movement in some cases, and often resulting in a lived experience for cross-border travellers that diverges from official policy.
*Intra-Africa travel refers to travel by African citizens between African countries.
