“It is time we… realise that having visa restrictions amongst ourselves is working against us,” he told an international conference.<\/p>\n
Visa-free travel within the continent has been a goal of the African Union (AU) for the past decade.<\/p>\n
While there are regional deals and bilateral arrangements, progress towards no restrictions has been slow.<\/p>\n
Only Seychelles, The Gambia and Benin offer entry to all African citizens without a visa, according to a 2022 AU-backed report.<\/p>\n
But according to Africa’s Visa Openness Index – which measures the extent to which each country in Africa is open to visitors from other African countries – most countries are making progress towards simplifying entry processes and dropping restrictions to some other nations.<\/p>\n
In 2022, Kenya was ranked 31st on the index out of 54 states.<\/p>\n
President Ruto told an audience in Congo-Brazzaville that it was bad for business.<\/p>\n
“When people cannot travel, businesspeople cannot travel, entrepreneurs cannot travel, we all become net losers.<\/p>\n
“Let me say this: As Kenya, by the end of this year, no African will be required to have a visa to come to Kenya,” he said to loud cheers from the conference delegates.<\/p>\n
“Our children form this continent should not be locked in borders in Europe and also be locked in borders in Africa.”<\/p>\n
He was speaking at a summit aimed at protecting some of the world’s largest rainforests.<\/p>\n
The AU launched its African passport in 2016. The idea behind the passport is for all African citizens to be able to travel throughout the continent without visas – but it is still not widely available.<\/p>\n
This is in part because of concerns about security, smuggling and the impact on the local employment markets.<\/p>\n
If dropping all visa restrictions is currently a step too far, the Visa Openness Index report recommends a number of other measures. These include lowering fees, making visa on arrival standard for African visitors and implementing a secure e-visa system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kenya is to end visa requirements to all African visitors by the end of the year, President William Ruto has said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12963,"featured_media":35405,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,16,15],"tags":[7,26,25],"class_list":{"0":"post-35408","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-featured","8":"category-news","9":"category-politics","10":"tag-apie-project","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-politics"},"yoast_head":"\n