Burundi’s immigration policies for other Africans have improved significantly, with the country’s visa openness ranking rising by 32 places in the year and becoming the second most open country in the East African Community (EAC) bloc.
According to a new report by the African Development Bank (AfDB), Burundi’s rise, mostly since 2021, is a result of Bujumbura accepting all travelers from Africa into the country either on visa-free travel (all East Africans) or visas on arrival (all other Africans). Burundi does not have electronic visas yet, but it does not require Africans to apply for entry permits before travelling to its territory.
Burundi’s decision to allow all Africans to travel without visa applications helped it rise from position 44 to 12, making it one of the most improved countries on the continent’s visa openness ranking alongside Benin, Nigeria and Ethiopia.
This may give President Evariste Ndayishimiye credit for reforming his country’s immigration and foreign policies since coming to power at the height of Covid-19. He is the current chair of the EAC.
In the bloc, The Africa Visa Openness Report 2022 shows that Rwanda is still the highest-ranked country on visa openness, allowing visitors from 18 African countries without visas, while granting visas to all other Africans on arrival. It was ranked 5th in Africa, behind Benin, Seychelles, the Gambia and Ghana.
Tanzania allows citizens from 19 African countries visa-free travel, 22 nations get visas on arrival, while visitors from 12 other African countries apply for permits before travel. Tanzania is ranked 20.
But Uganda (30th), Kenya (31st), the Democratic Republic of Congo (47th) and South Sudan (50th) all fell out of the top 20 on the list of African countries seen as most progressive in welcoming Africans.
At the report launch on Sunday, Jean-Guy Afrika, the acting Director of Regional Integration Coordination Office at the AfDB, said the ranking is not all-revealing but only hints at trends on the continent. For example, island nations and landlocked African countries tended to be more welcoming to African visitors. Seychelles, Cape Verde, Mauritius and Comoros were all in the top 20.
Still, landlocked countries with the most natural resources or better economies seemed more unwelcoming. South Sudan, for example, requires visas before departure from 50 countries and allows visa-free travel from only three neighbouring countries. Botswana, too, was cited as restrictive, requiring visas from visitors from 35 countries before travel.