Politics and Society

Africans applaud Benin’s plan to remove visa requirements for African nationals

Benin has become the latest country to reveal plans to remove visa requirements for African nationals, and social media is loving it. The policy will open up the west African country to African visitors, and it will undoubtedly ease the free movement of African nationals and boost tourism.

Published

9 years ago

August 30, 2016

This Is Africa

Benin is set to relax its visa policy with plans to remove visa requirements for African citizens, news which is being applauded on social media.

According to reports, the President of Benin, Patrice Talon, made the announcement that his country would scrap visa requirements for Africans visiting the west African nation.

On his three-day official visit to Rwanda, Talon reportedly told the Rwandese President Paul Kagame that Benin would take a leaf from Rwanda on the visa-free policy.

‘‘Learning from Rwanda, I have decided that Benin will no longer require visas for other Africans,” President Talon noted.

President Talon: Learning from Rwanda, I have decided that Benin will no longer require visas for other Africans
— Presidency | Rwanda (@UrugwiroVillage) August 29, 2016
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The announcement is indeed laudable and demonstrates that African countries are beginning to act on the implementation of the African Union’s (AU) 2063 Agenda for “a continent with seamless borders” to help facilitate the free movement of African citizens.

In July, the Namibian government also announced plans to soon introduce visa-on-arrival for African citizens, in preparation of ultimately scrapping off visa requirements.

However, other countries have been slow in implementing the 30-day visa-on-arrival policy recommended by the AU. The visa policies of most African states remain restrictive, and the countries are inaccessible to African visitors.

Read: Africans applaud Ghana’s visa-on-arrival policy

Earlier this year, the AU appealed to countries to review their visa policies to “implement mechanisms allowing for the issuing of visas on arrival for citizens of Member States, with the possibility of a 30-day stay”.

The recently launched Africa Visa Openness Index, a guide by the African Development Bank (AfDB) reveals how Africa countries remain largely closed off to African citizens.

According to AfDB, “on average Africans need visas to travel to 55% of other African countries, can get visas on arrival in only 25% of other countries and don’t need a visa to travel to just 20% of other countries on the continent”.

AfDB recommends that African countries should promote more visa-free regional blocs, push for greater reciprocity, and introduce more visa on arrival policies for Africans.

The AU has urged member states to champion the visa on arrival initiative, identified as “critical to facilitating and encourage intra-African trade and investments, as well as tourism. With a growing middle class, we must encourage intra – Africa tourism”.

Social media reactions:

Benin president says no VISA for africans in Benin.
Keep on the good work. We will rule the world one day. Our time shall come
— Musa Bamalum (@mbwali_) August 30, 2016

https://twitter.com/Octavio_DIOGO/status/770545502903500800

https://twitter.com/robert_kn/status/770525277415960576

President Talon of Benin on a visit to Rwanda announces African country passport holders won't require visa for Benin
— Samira Sawlani (@samirasawlani) August 30, 2016