Visa-free Africa opens borders, but skies remain closed

Passengers at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on January 11, 2024.

Photo credit: Bonface Bogita | Nation Media Group

Africa is gradually becoming a visa-free travel region for its citizens, although the cost of moving around the continent remains steep.

This week, the Republic of Congo became the latest country to open its borders to Africans holding valid passports. President Denis Sassou-Nguesso announced on the sidelines of the African Development Bank annual meetings that, from January 2027, Africans will no longer require visas to enter Congo-Brazzaville.