Kenya less open to visitors despite visa-free policy

Kenya has plunged in the latest rankings of how open it is to visitors from other African countries despite introducing a "visa-free policy" earlier this year.

It dropped 17 places to 46th out of 54 nations, according the 2024 Africa Visa Openness Index (AVOI).

Last year, President William Ruto was highly praised after announcing that Kenya would drop visa requirements for all visitors from the continent.

But in their place most travellers now have to apply online for authorisation before leaving their country, which some have criticised as “a visa under another name”.

The system, known as the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), determines if applicants are eligible to travel to Kenya and can take up to three days to be processed.

Citizens from the East African Community regional bloc are exempt.

The AVOI, supported by the African Union and run by the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), evaluates accessibility of African countries based on visa policies.

It says Kenya's "requirement for ETAs prior to travel for most travellers from other African countries lowered [its] score".

Looking at the continent overall, AfDB director Joy Kategekwa said the fact that "Africans continue to require visas for the most part to enter other African countries is one of the most profound contradictions to the continent’s aspirations on regional integration".

She noted that the report also “investigates the question of [ETAs] which, notwithstanding intent, resemble features of a visa”.

The report says that the “introduction of ETAs by some countries added additional layers of requirements to the traveller and did not facilitate ease of movement”.

Last October, President Ruto said Kenya would be going "visa-free" beginning in January this year, noting that the country was "the cradle of mankind".

But the latest ranking has come as no surprise to some Kenyans.

“I did raise this very matter in January 2024,” says Mohamed Hersi, a hotelier and former chairman of the Kenya Tourism Federation.

In January, Mr Hersi, said that the ETA was "not the same as visa-free", and could make it more difficult for potential visitors to come to the country.

Others have called for change in the policy.

“The ETA isn’t progress—it’s still a visa, adding another bureaucratic layer and making travel to Kenya harder, not easier. Time for a serious rethink on accessibility,” says Kenyan entrepreneur Gina Din.

Documents needed to get an ETA include flight details and proof of a hotel booking.

Except for EAC citizens, all travellers must now pay $30 (£24) is valid for 90 days. Previously travellers were able to pay $50 for a multiple-entry visa that could be valid for several years.

Before the introduction of the ETA, visitors from more than 40 countries including several from Africa, were able to arrive in Kenya, get a stamp on their passport and enter without paying.

But there was a security element to the introduction of the new system.

A government spokesperson told the BBC earlier this year that the ETA was necessary for vetting travellers.

"Terrorism is one of the global threats at the moment, so we need mechanisms to ensure everyone who is coming to Kenya is [not a risk] to the country," he said.

Kenya has been targeted by al-Shabab jihadist militants from neighbouring Somalia in several notorious attacks.

But looking at people travelling to Kenya overall, from Africa and beyond, the ETA does not appear to have discouraged tourists from coming.

The country welcomed more than a million international visitors in the first six months of 2024, a 21% increase from last year, according to the Kenya Tourism Board.

According to the AVOI, Benin, The Gambia, Rwanda and the Seychelles are ranked the highest in visa openness, with Africans requiring no visas to enter the countries.

Sudan is bottom of the index, followed by Libya, Equatorial Guinea and Eritrea.

The report's authors say that overall, despite welcome change in some places, the continent's score has dropped by a small amount.