Over the period 2016 to 2024, 39 countries score higher now than they did in 2016, a reflection of overall progress towards easing travel between African countries.
Over the same period, five countries have had the most improved scores on the AVOI: Benin (moved rank from 31 to 1), Ethiopia (from 46 to 19), Sierra Leone (from 32 to 13), Nigeria (from 25 to 6) and Gambia (from 18 to 1). Some are now joint top-ranked countries on the AVOI, a commendable achievement given the individual progress on embracing visa openness that they have made in recent years.
The most striking observation about changes in visa openness since 2016 is that there has been a significant increase in the number of intra-Africa travel scenarios where African citizens are no longer subject to a visa requirement concerning travel. From 20% in 2016 to 28% in 2024, translating to a 40% increase in visa-free travel over the past nine years.
These positive developments are illustrated in the first indicator (see graphic below), and while the rounded percentage remains unchanged, closer scrutiny of the data reveals that the number of visa-free travel scenarios between African countries has in fact increased to 803 (nine were added over the past year), resulting in the highest number of visa-free travel possibilities to date.
The second indicator relates to the situation where a visa can be obtained on arrival. While nominally unchanged since 2016 but with a slight decrease over 2023, this metric is nevertheless representative of progress that has been made on easing travel. In terms of scoring, two opposing, yet often complementary developments underlie this metric. On the one hand, countries ease travel by moving from a visa-required (ahead of travel) policy to a visa-on-arrival, thereby easing the travel experience and contributing to a higher percentage score in this indicator. On the other hand, countries relax their visa policy by moving from a visa-on-arrival to a visa-free policy, thus lowering the applicable percentage.
The third indicator measures travel scenarios where the visa process must be completed ahead of travel. A lower percentage of travel scenarios to which such policies apply (55% in 2016 down to 47% in 2024) is a positive development. While this is an important improvement overall, there has also been a small increase over the past year in instances where a visa-required policy is being applied. The overall percentage remains considerably high, notwithstanding progress that has been made, and leaves much room for further evolution. While 26 African countries – close to half of the continent – offer an e-visa that can be obtained ahead of travel, this issue is not directly captured by the scoring, as it still requires a visa before travelling.
Overall visa openness has improved significantly in the period 2016–2024, notwithstanding a small decline in the combined score (visa-free and visa on arrival) since the previous report (from 0.485 to 0.479). The combined average score in 2024 nevertheless remains 13% higher than in 2016, and still exceeds the annual score recorded in most years since then.
Amongst the top-10 countries on the AVOI, average visa openness remains unchanged compared to 2023, but is today 6% higher than it was in 2016.
Among the top-20 countries on the AVOI, average visa openness has increased by 16% over this period. It can be concluded therefore that the leading countries have continued to make progress in easing movement of persons. Amongst the current top-10 countries, eight have their score higher than in 2016, while 14 of the top 20 have improved their score over this period. Note that the composition of the top-10 and top-20 groups has changed over time, and each year’s average score relates only to the countries falling into each of these groups.
