President William Ruto has stated that by the end of the year, Kenya will no longer require visas for any visitors from Africa.
Speaking at an international conference in Congo-Brazzaville, Mr. Ruto asserts that it is detrimental to business, saying that “when people cannot travel, businesspeople cannot travel, entrepreneurs cannot travel, we all become net losers.
As a result, he stated that “by the end of this year [2023], no African will need a visa to come to Kenya. Our children from this continent should not be locked in borders in Europe and also be locked in borders in Africa”.
Visa-free travel within the continent has been a goal of the African Union (AU) for the past decade. While there are regional deals and bilateral arrangements, progress towards no restrictions has been slow.
Only the Seychelles, The Gambia, and Benin offer entry to all African citizens without a visa, according to a 2022 AU-backed report.
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 on some other nations.
Source: Ghana/MaxTV/MaxFM/max.com.gh/Belinda Quansah
