A decade-long push for freer movement across Africa has yielded measurable progress, but significant political and procedural hurdles remain, according to the 2025 Africa Visa Openness Index (AVOI) launched at a major policy dialogue in Abidjan and the Pan-African Forum on Migration in Cape Town. The report, marking the index's 10th anniversary, shows a continent gradually opening its borders to intra-African travel, yet struggling to translate high-level integration commitments into widespread, tangible reforms.

Progress Amidst Persistent Barriers

The dialogue, co-hosted by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the African Union Commission (AUC), brought together private sector leaders, civil society, and development partners to assess a decade of data. The 2025 report reveals the continental average score for visa openness rose to 0.448. Visa-free travel for Africans on the continent increased from 20% in 2016 to 28% in 2025, and the availability of e-visas expanded from just nine countries in 2016 to 31 today.

"Over a decade of evidence shows that visa openness can be a deliberate development choice, strengthening trade, tourism, investment, and regional confidence," said Nnenna Nwabufo, AfDB Vice-President for Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery.

The Political Will Deficit

A central theme of the discussions was the critical gap between political rhetoric and implementation. Speakers, including Prof. Melaku Desta of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), pointed to persistent political inertia. Notably, eight years after the adoption of the African Union Protocol on Free Movement of Persons, only four member states have ratified it.

Ladislas Nze Bekale, Special Representative of the AUC Chairperson to Côte d'Ivoire, acknowledged progress but urged faster action, calling for a shift toward a "people-centred single African market." Participants widely agreed that while security and capacity concerns are valid, they are often used as pretexts to delay necessary reforms.

Leaders and Laggards

The report highlights a clear divergence in performance. The ten most open countries achieved an average score of 0.890, with Rwanda and The Gambia reaching full openness over the decade. Other notable reformers include Kenya, Ghana, Namibia, and Zambia. Countries showing significant improvement in the 2025 index include Kenya, Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea, Zambia, and Egypt.

However, the data also shows setbacks. Access to visas-on-arrival declined from 28% in 2020 to 20% in 2025, and the requirement for pre-travel visas only eased slightly from 55% to 51%, indicating that procedural barriers remain stubbornly high for many travellers.

Dr. Joy Kategekwa, Director of the Regional Integration Coordination Office at the AfDB, captured the mood, stating, "We acknowledge tangible gains while stressing that progress remains below Africa’s ambitions." The dialogue concluded with participants symbolically signing a wall of commitment to a visa-free Africa, underscoring the shared vision but also the long road ahead to achieve it.