• On average, African citizens can travel visa-free or get a visa on arrival in only half of the continent.

•  Just five countries have fully opened their borders to all other Africans.

•  Lack of reciprocity and coordination continues to slow down Africa’s dream of free movement.

Africa pushes for unity, but travel within the continent remains a challenge. The continent may be promoting unity and regional integration, but when it comes to letting its people move freely across borders, the reality tells a different story.

As of 2025, African citizens can travel to only 27 out of 54 countries on the continent without needing a visa in advance. That’s the average, according to the African Observatory for Mobility and Integration, which ranks African passports based on how many countries they can access either visa-free or with a visa on arrival.

But this average hides big gaps. Beninese passport holders, for example, can enter 35 African countries with no prior visa, while Ivorians have access to 34. At the bottom of the list are countries like Eritrea and Somalia, whose passports offer very limited mobility.

At the same time, only five African countries—Benin, Seychelles, Rwanda, Gambia, and Ghana—have fully opened their borders to citizens from across the continent. These countries have done so unilaterally, without requiring the same in return, reflecting a strong political will to foster openness.

A System Built on One-Sided Access

The 2025 Intra-African Passport Index, compiled by the observatory using data from the Henley Passport Index, highlights how restricted mobility still is within the continent. Many countries apply strict visa rules that limit intra-African travel.

For example, Equatorial Guinea’s passport grants access to 29 countries. Yet the country only allows citizens from one African country to enter without a visa. Algeria is similar—its passport gets you into 27 African countries, but Algerian borders are open to just six. Morocco and Gabon also show similar imbalances between the access their citizens get and the access they give.

This lack of reciprocity reflects a broader failure to align immigration policies across the continent. Despite talk of integration, Africa still hasn’t implemented real freedom of movement for its people.

The African Passport and AfCFTA Still in Limbo

These challenges raise questions about Africa’s commitment to truly opening up. While each country may have its reasons, the bigger issue is the lack of regional coordination.

Initiatives like the African Union’s passport—which was first announced in 2016 to allow visa-free travel across the continent—have yet to become reality. Likewise, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), launched in 2021 to boost trade and mobility, can’t fully deliver without easier movement for people.

Bright Spots: ECOWAS and the EAC

Despite the many barriers to free movement across the continent, a few regional blocs have made real progress. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is a leading example. The bloc has introduced policies that encourage easier travel between member states, including a regional passport, visa-free entry for citizens of member countries, and efforts to gradually align national migration policies.

Four of the African countries whose passports give access to the most other African nations—Benin, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, and The Gambia—are all members of ECOWAS.

East Africa has also made strides. The East African Community (EAC) is guided by a free movement protocol designed to boost trade, deepen regional ties, and strengthen diplomatic cooperation among its members.

“ECOWAS and the EAC are applying regional free movement protocols. COMESA is trying to revive a protocol that was never fully implemented. Meanwhile, the SADC has made movement easier mostly through bilateral deals, rather than regional agreements, which leaves a lot of room for national control,” explained an article from visaopenness.org cited in a previous Ecofin Pro report.

Still, even these positive examples face setbacks. ECOWAS, for instance, has lost some of its momentum after the official exit of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso—members of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES)—shrinking its common market.

To fix the current imbalances in intra-African mobility, several ideas are being floated. The African Mobility and Integration Observatory is calling for reforms that would expand access to visas, encourage diplomatic reciprocity, and create stronger regional agreements. It also emphasizes the need for aligned security policies and shared ID systems across countries.

These recommendations echo those from the African Development Bank in its Africa Visa Openness Report 2024, which urges African Union countries to lift visa requirements for all fellow members. If full exemption isn’t feasible, the Bank recommends at least moving toward e-visas.

The African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET) is also pushing for the ratification of the African Union’s Free Movement Protocol, which has yet to be adopted by many governments. Other proposals include standardizing immigration procedures and setting up a regional job market information system.

With Africa aiming to speed up its economic transformation, better regional integration could help make it happen. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which embodies this goal, could play a key role. If fully implemented, it could generate an extra $450 billion in income by 2035 and lift 30 million people out of extreme poverty.

Aurel Sèdjro Houenou