Why Kenya's visa-free status is yet to be enforced
President William Ruto announced the abolition of the visa requirement on December 12, 2023.
What you need to know:
- President Ruto announced the abolition of the visa requirement for foreign visitors during his Jamhuri Day speech.
- Some 48 out of 54 African countries currently offer visa-free travel to citizens of at least one other country.
Despite President William Ruto's pledge to make Kenya a visa-free country in January 2024, foreigners visiting Kenya will still need to apply for visas.
The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) has clarified that the current visa application process will remain unchanged pending further communication on the Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) system.
KCAA Director General Emile Arao said in a statement that travelers from visa-requiring countries must continue to apply for visas until the government provides more information on the new ETA system.
"The ETA system is still under development and aims to pre-identify travelers, but there's no set timeline for completion," Mr. Arao said.
President Ruto announced the abolition of the visa requirement during his Jamhuri Day speech, emphasizing the development of a digital platform to facilitate this visa-free entry.
However, despite this announcement, the existing visa application process will remain in place until the ETA system is implemented.
President Ruto has been a vocal advocate for a borderless Africa and has sought to support visa-free travel.
Kenya previously lifted visa requirements for Indonesian nationals following discussions between President Ruto and Indonesian leader Joko Widodo, joining Senegal and Congo with which Kenya has visa-free agreements.
The African Development Bank Group's Africa Visa Openness Report 2023 identified 2023 as an important marker in the history of the Africa Visa Openness Index (AVOI).
After years of fluctuation - most recently due to the drastic curbs on mobility imposed to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic - Africa's countries recorded their highest average AVOI score ever measured in 2023.
The continent's visa openness score for the past 12 months has now surpassed its previous high, recorded in mid-2020.
This suggests that the visa policy restrictions imposed by the continent during the pandemic years have been fully reversed, and that Africa is poised to further open its borders to the movement of people.
"Among the encouraging developments over the past 12 months, 15 countries improved their scores, compared to 10 countries that improved their scores between 2021 and 2022. In addition, 35 countries maintained their level of visa openness and only four countries recorded a decrease," the report said.
Four countries had also seen a decline in last year's AVOI, but two of those countries (Senegal and the Central African Republic) are among those whose scores increased this year.
According to the report, 48 out of 54 countries currently offer visa-free travel to citizens of at least one other country.
Of the remaining six countries, four rank in the top 20 of this year's AVOI because they offer visa-on-arrival to citizens of all other African countries.
Some 33 out of 54 countries offer visa-free travel to at least 10 other countries.
Four countries now offer visa-free travel to citizens of the rest of the continent, up from three countries last year.
In terms of visa-on-arrival, 30 countries offer visa-on-arrival to citizens of at least one other African country.
Another 12 countries offer visa on arrival to citizens of at least 35 other African countries. The same 12 countries only require citizens of nine African countries to obtain a visa in advance.
While 30 countries still require citizens of more than half the countries on the continent to obtain a visa before traveling.
