Kenya has dropped in the latest rankings of how open it is to visitors from other African countries, despite implementing a “visa-free policy” earlier this year.
BBC News reports that according to the 2024 Africa Visa Openness Index (AVOI), Kenya fell 17 places to 46th out of 54 nations.
The decline follows the introduction of a new system requiring most visitors from African countries to apply online for travel authorisation, rather than simply arriving visa-free.
New travel authorisation system and its impact
According to reports, in January 2024, President William Ruto announced that Kenya would remove visa requirements for all visitors from African countries, a move that was widely praised at the time. However, the new system, known as the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), requires most travelers to apply online before departure. This system can take up to three days to process, and some critics have called it “a visa under another name.” Citizens from the East African Community (EAC) are exempt from this requirement.
A government spokesperson explained earlier this year that the ETA is necessary for vetting travelers, citing global security threats, including terrorism. “We need mechanisms to ensure everyone who is coming to Kenya is not a risk to the country,” the spokesperson said. This follows several attacks by al-Shabab militants from Somalia.
Concerns over the new policy
While the policy was designed to ease travel, it has faced significant criticism. BBC reports that a hotelier and former chairman of the Kenya Tourism Federation, Mohamed Hersi, expressed his concerns back in January, stating that the ETA was “not the same as visa-free.” Hersi argued that it could make it more difficult for potential visitors to come to Kenya, especially those unfamiliar with the application process.
A Kenyan entrepreneur, Gina Din, also criticized the policy, stating, “The ETA isn’t progress—it’s still a visa, adding another bureaucratic layer and making travel to Kenya harder, not easier.”
The ETA requires travelers to provide flight details and hotel bookings, as well as pay a fee of $30 (£24) for a stay of up to 90 days.
Tourism still shows positive growth
Despite these concerns, reports reveal that the introduction of the ETA has not discouraged tourism to Kenya. The country is reported to have welcomed over one million international visitors in the first half of 2024, marking a 21% increase compared to the same period in the previous year.
The Kenya Tourism Board has highlighted this growth as evidence that the tourism sector remains strong, even with the new travel requirements in place.
Kenya’s rank and broader trends in Africa
Kenya’s fall in the AVOI rankings is significant, as the country was previously seen as a leader in easing visa requirements for African visitors. The AVOI, supported by the African Union and the African Development Bank (AfDB), evaluates countries’ openness based on visa policies. The report noted that Kenya’s requirement for ETAs “prior to travel for most travellers from other African countries lowered its score.”
Other African countries, such as Benin, The Gambia, Rwanda, and Seychelles, have ranked highest in visa openness, allowing Africans to enter without a visa. In contrast, countries like Sudan, Libya, Equatorial Guinea, and Eritrea rank at the bottom of the index.
The AVOI report also observed that, while there has been some progress, the overall trend in Africa’s visa openness has shown a slight decline. AfDB director Joy Kategekwa stated, “Africans continue to require visas for the most part to enter other African countries,” which contradicts the continent’s aspirations for regional integration.
