Rwanda has retained its position as the most visa-open country in Africa, according to the 2025 Africa Visa Openness Index (AVOI). The country has held the top spot since 2023 due to its visa-free regime. ALSO READ: Rwanda retains top place in visa openness in Africa The top position was claimed jointly by Rwanda and The Gambia, according to the index, while Kenya came third. Benin ranked fourth after introducing visa requirements for citizens of five countries. The AVOI 2025 report, which marks the tenth consecutive year of monitoring African visa policies, is a joint initiative of the African Development Bank and the African Union (AU) Commission. AVOI measures the extent to which African countries are open to visitors from other African countries. It analyses each country’s visa requirements to show which nations on the continent most facilitate travel to their territory. According to the report, the combined visa openness score across Africa is 0.445, lower than in the past three years and similar to 2021. ALSO READ: Rwanda leads Africa in visa openness — report During 2025, 20 African countries changed their visa policies, affecting citizens of one or more African nations. Of these, 11 countries improved their scores, nine decreased, and 34 countries made no changes, maintaining their previous ratings. The number of visa-free travel scenarios across Africa also increased slightly, from 803 in 2024 to 814 in 2025, accounting for 28.2 per cent of intra-African travel scenarios, the highest level recorded since the index began. While Rwanda offers visa-free access to all African travelers, its citizens still need visas or visas-on-arrival to enter some countries. They can travel visa-free to 16 African nations, obtain visas on arrival in another 16 countries, and must secure a visa in 21 countries. ALSO READ: Rwanda’s passport ranks 14th in Africa, has visa-free access to 67 destinations Joy Kategekwa, Director of Regional Integration at African Development Bank Group, said that over the 10 years of AVOI, visa-free mobility in Africa has shown “full of promise” but still requires “accelerated action” to reach its full potential. “Africans move, and do so mostly in Africa. It is here that most Africans see the opportunity for their dreams to actualise. And it is here that we must facilitate, with more vigour, the pace of visa-free mobility. She said that visa-free policies support Africa’s economic growth, enabling trade, industry, and allowing Africans to reach opportunities where they are most needed. It will take creativity and innovation, building and learning from those African countries that took the leap to grant visa-free access to fellow African citizens, and understanding the systems they have created to manage border movement and anticipate challenges, while managing, rather than avoiding, risk, she added.
