Visa-Free Travel to Rwanda for All African Citizens
In a move to boost free movement of people and trade, Rwanda announced visa-free travel for all Africans, said President Paul Kagame on Thursday 2nd November 2023 during the 23rd World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) Global Summit. President Kagame also pitched the wonderful potential of the Continent as a unified tourism destination, considering that 60% of the Continent’s tourists are from outside the African Continent (according to statistics from the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa).
The announcement makes Rwanda the 4th country in the Continent to waive Visa restrictions for Africans, after Seychelles, Gambia, Benin, and Kenya which announced recently that all Africans will now visit the country visa-free from 31st December.
Speaking during the summit, President Kagame added that any African can now fly to Rwanda, whenever they desire and don’t have to pay for a visa to access this beautiful country. “We shouldn’t lose sight of our African market” he added, and also added that Africans are the future of Global tourism, considering that the Continent’s middle class is expected to grow at a tremendous pace in the years to come.
According to the latest Government statistics, nearly 1.1 million International visitors were welcomed into the land of a thousand hills in 2022, earning the country about $445 million in revenue. Of these travelers, 60% of them were from African countries (especially the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, and Burundi which are surprisingly the top five source markets for Rwanda), hence highlighting the country’s popularity as a destination within Africa. Therefore by introducing Visa-free Travel, more African travelers are expected to Rwanda.
The majority of visitors to Rwanda come for business & tourism, hence reflecting the country’s position as a thriving hub for business activities. The country’s four National Parks (Akagera National Park, Nyungwe Forest National Park, Volcanoes National Park, and Gishwati-Mukura National Park) attracted more than 109800 visitors in 2022 thus generating over $27 million. With incentives like offering discounted permits (at $500 per person to African travelers) until the end of 2023 boosted the country’s tourism even further.
By lifting Visa restrictions for All Africans traveling to Rwanda, tourism and the general economy will be boosted. Since the launch of the African passport with so much excitement by the African Union in 2016, it couldn’t achieve its aim of “unleashing the potential of the African Continent” and rivaling the European Union but instead benefited only the Diplomats and African Union Officials who have so far been issued the travel document.
The aim of introducing the African passport as well as promoting the free movement of travelers is to remove restrictions on African travelers’ ability to work, live, and even travel throughout the continent, The African Union pointed out on its website. Additionally, the “African Continental Free Trade Area” was launched by the AU and it was valued to be worth $3.4 trillion. This trade area is also expected to promote a single market for Africa’s population (of about 1.3 billion people) that will bring about growth in economic development.
