Why is it so hard for Africans to visit other African countries?

Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote has said he needs 38 visas to travel within the continent on his Nigerian passport. Many European nationals, meanwhile, waltz into most Africans countries visa-free.

African nations were supposed to scrap visa requirements for all African citizens by 2018.

It was a key part of the African Union (AU) “vision and roadmap for the next 50 years” that was adopted by all members states in 2013.

But to date, the Seychelles is the only nation where visa-free travel is open to all Africans – as well as to citizens of every nation – as it always has been.

A recent AU report found that Africans can travel without a visa to just 22% of other African countries.

It is a sensitive topic, provoking xenophobic attitudes in some of Africa’s wealthier nations despite policymakers from Cape to Cairo insisting that the free movement of people is key for economic transformation.

Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote has said he needs 38 visas to travel within the continent on his Nigerian passport. Many European nationals, meanwhile, waltz into most Africans countries visa-free.

African nations were supposed to scrap visa requirements for all African citizens by 2018.

It was a key part of the African Union (AU) “vision and roadmap for the next 50 years” that was adopted by all members states in 2013.

But to date, the Seychelles is the only nation where visa-free travel is open to all Africans – as well as to citizens of every nation – as it always has been.

A recent AU report found that Africans can travel without a visa to just 22% of other African countries.

It is a sensitive topic, provoking xenophobic attitudes in some of Africa’s wealthier nations despite policymakers from Cape to Cairo insisting that the free movement of people is key for economic transformation.

he country’s Department of Home Affairs spokesman Thabo Mokgola defends its policy.

“This is an unfair assertion – visa-waiver agreements are premised on reciprocity and we are finalising such with a number of African countries,” he told the BBC.

Just how that reciprocity is applied is unclear.

Kenya, for example, gives South African citizens a visa on arrival for free. But Kenyans must apply for a visa, then pay a service fee and wait for at least five working days before travelling to South Africa.

In 2015, two years after the African Union asked members to commit to abolishing visa requirements for all Africans by 2018, South Africa did the opposite and announced stricter regulations that were widely criticised.

Hit by a recession and a drop in tourist numbers, the country caved in and recently announced that it was relaxing travel rules in the hope of reviving its struggling economy.

African passport

Namibia, Mauritius, Ghana, Rwanda, Benin and Kenya have all loosened travel restrictions for other African nationals, and now either grant a visa on arrival or allow for visits of up to 90 days with just a passport.

But citizens of African countriesstill need a visa to travel to more than half of the continent’s 54 countries, protecting borders drawn up by European colonisers more than a century ago.

“Somebody like me, despite the size of our group, I need 38 visas to move around Africa,” complained Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote in an interview in 2016.

He is reportedly one of the first in line to receive the African passport which was launched in 2016. The travel document is supposed to eventually replace individual nations’ passports, but is currently only available to some heads of state, senior diplomats and top AU officials.

Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame and former African Union Chairman Idriss Déby were given the first AU passports in 2016

It is easy enough to travel within regional blocs such as the East African Community, the Economic Community of West African States, the Southern African Development Community, the Maghreb, as well as the Central African Economic and Monetary Community. But it is rarely possible to travel from one region to another without restrictions.

Extortionate prices

Another impediment to African travel is that there are very few commercial flights from one region to another and when they do exist, they are prohibitively expensive.

“Flying from Kenya to Namibia is the same price as flying to Thailand, and the cost to Dubai from Nairobi is way cheaper than flying to Morocco,” says Kenyan travel blogger Winnie Rioba.

And this is on top of the visa fees.

Ms Rioba was charged $90 for a visa fir Djibouti, more than the $75 she paid for a Schengen visa, which gave her access to 26 European states.

“I’ve spent more money applying for visas than transport costs in my travels across the continent,” agrees Ms Nzama.

“This is not just money paid to embassies. It’s the time and money wasted going back and forth to embassies, and preparing the required documents, which in most cases I felt were not necessary,” the South African travel blogger says.

To help her fellow Nigerians find their way through the maze of requirements, entrepreneur Funmi Oyatogun created a colour-coded map outlining which African countries were easiest to travel to:

“I created a map showing ALL the African countries and which ones are easiest to visit from Nigeria! Visa reqs, flight access, etc were considered. The full post below gives more info about each country! Folks, I put my back into this one. I hope it helps you.”