Which African countries require no visa from Africans?

Benin, Gambia, Seychelles: visa-free for the 53 other African passports covered by the data dated 2026-07-17.

Which African passport opens the most doors in Africa?

Cape Verde: 35 of 53 African countries without a prior application (22 visa-free).

What share of intra-African trips is visa-free?

27.9% of the 2,862 passport → country routes are visa-free, and 53.8% need no prior application once electronic authorisations and visas on arrival are counted.

Visa

Africa open to Africans, country by country

27.9% of 2,862 intra-African routes are visa-free; 53.8% need no prior application at all.

3 countries require no visa from any African: Benin, Gambia, Seychelles. Data dated 2026-07-17, 54 countries and 54 passports.

The countries most open to Africans

For each country, how many of the 53 other African passports enter without filing anything before leaving. Least open: Sudan (1), Libya (2), Equatorial Guinea (2), Eritrea (4), Egypt (5).

African countries ranked by access granted to African passports
Rank	Country	Open doors	Visa-free	On arrival / ETA	E-visa	Visa required
1	Benin	53 / 53	53	0	0	0
1	Gambia	53 / 53	53	0	0	0
1	Seychelles	53 / 53	53	0	0	0
4	Ghana	53 / 53	26	27	0	0
5	Ivory Coast	53 / 53	21	32	0	0
6	Cape Verde	53 / 53	17	36	0	0
6	Nigeria	53 / 53	17	36	0	0
8	Guinea-Bissau	53 / 53	14	39	0	0
9	Mauritania	53 / 53	8	45	0	0
10	Kenya	53 / 53	7	46	0	0
11	Burundi	53 / 53	6	47	0	0
12	Comoros	53 / 53	0	53	0	0
13	Rwanda	52 / 53	52	0	1	0
14	Djibouti	52 / 53	0	52	1	0
14	Madagascar	52 / 53	0	52	0	1
16	Mozambique	51 / 53	12	39	2	0
17	Mauritius	47 / 53	26	21	0	6
18	Senegal	47 / 53	22	25	0	6
19	Ethiopia	47 / 53	2	45	6	0
20	Tanzania	41 / 53	19	22	12	0
21	Namibia	39 / 53	13	26	0	14
22	Sierra Leone	30 / 53	15	15	23	0
23	Burkina Faso	28 / 53	17	11	25	0
24	Zimbabwe	27 / 53	17	10	26	0
25	Malawi	27 / 53	16	11	26	0
26	Zambia	25 / 53	14	11	28	0
27	Mali	22 / 53	20	2	0	31
28	Tunisia	21 / 53	21	0	0	32
28	Uganda	21 / 53	21	0	32	0
30	Guinea	20 / 53	20	0	33	0
30	South Africa	20 / 53	20	0	16	17
32	Angola	18 / 53	18	0	0	35
32	Niger	18 / 53	18	0	0	35
34	Botswana	17 / 53	17	0	36	0
34	Eswatini	17 / 53	17	0	0	36
36	Lesotho	16 / 53	15	1	35	2
37	Togo	15 / 53	15	0	38	0
38	Chad	15 / 53	14	1	0	38
39	Liberia	14 / 53	14	0	0	39
40	Republic of the Congo	14 / 53	5	9	0	39
41	Central African Republic	13 / 53	13	0	0	40
42	Morocco	11 / 53	8	3	0	42
43	Somalia	10 / 53	0	10	43	0
44	Gabon	9 / 53	9	0	44	0
44	São Tomé & Príncipe	9 / 53	9	0	44	0
46	Cameroon	7 / 53	7	0	46	0
47	DR Congo	7 / 53	4	3	46	0
48	Algeria	5 / 53	5	0	0	48
49	South Sudan	5 / 53	3	2	48	0
50	Egypt	5 / 53	0	5	0	48
51	Eritrea	4 / 53	2	2	0	49
52	Equatorial Guinea	2 / 53	2	0	51	0
52	Libya	2 / 53	2	0	49	2
54	Sudan	1 / 53	0	1	0	52

The African passports that travel best in Africa

The ranking the AfDB index does not publish: for each passport, the number of African countries it enters without a prior application. At the top, Cape Verde, 35 of 53.

African passports ranked by access obtained in Africa
Rank	Passport	Open doors	Visa-free	On arrival / ETA	E-visa	Visa required
1	Cape Verde	35 / 53	22	13	10	8
2	Kenya	35 / 53	20	15	8	10
3	Gambia	33 / 53	25	8	10	10
4	Ghana	33 / 53	24	9	9	11
5	Benin	33 / 53	20	13	13	7
5	Mauritius	33 / 53	20	13	9	11
5	Seychelles	33 / 53	20	13	11	9
8	South Africa	33 / 53	18	15	10	10
9	Rwanda	33 / 53	16	17	10	10
10	Ivory Coast	32 / 53	21	11	14	7
11	Burkina Faso	32 / 53	20	12	14	7
11	Tanzania	32 / 53	20	12	9	12
13	Tunisia	32 / 53	17	15	12	9
14	Sierra Leone	31 / 53	22	9	11	11
14	Senegal	31 / 53	22	9	15	7
16	Niger	31 / 53	21	10	16	6
17	Togo	31 / 53	19	12	13	9
18	Morocco	31 / 53	16	15	13	9
18	Namibia	31 / 53	16	15	11	11
20	Equatorial Guinea	31 / 53	12	19	12	10
21	Zimbabwe	30 / 53	18	12	11	12
22	Botswana	30 / 53	17	13	11	12
22	Guinea	30 / 53	17	13	15	8
22	Eswatini	30 / 53	17	13	11	12
25	Lesotho	30 / 53	16	14	11	12
25	Malawi	30 / 53	16	14	11	12
25	Uganda	30 / 53	16	14	10	13
25	Zambia	30 / 53	16	14	11	12
29	Gabon	30 / 53	13	17	14	9
30	Mali	29 / 53	21	8	15	9
31	Guinea-Bissau	29 / 53	18	11	13	11
32	Angola	28 / 53	15	13	13	12
33	Republic of the Congo	28 / 53	12	16	14	11
34	Cameroon	28 / 53	11	17	14	11
34	Madagascar	28 / 53	11	17	13	12
36	Liberia	27 / 53	16	11	16	10
37	Mauritania	27 / 53	14	13	17	9
37	Mozambique	27 / 53	14	13	11	15
39	Chad	27 / 53	13	14	16	10
40	Algeria	27 / 53	11	16	16	10
41	São Tomé & Príncipe	27 / 53	6	21	13	13
42	Nigeria	26 / 53	18	8	16	11
43	Central African Republic	26 / 53	11	15	15	12
44	Burundi	25 / 53	10	15	13	15
45	Comoros	25 / 53	5	20	14	14
46	DR Congo	24 / 53	9	15	14	15
47	Egypt	23 / 53	6	17	15	15
48	South Sudan	22 / 53	9	13	14	17
49	Djibouti	22 / 53	6	16	16	15
50	Ethiopia	22 / 53	4	18	17	14
51	Libya	21 / 53	7	14	17	15
52	Eritrea	21 / 53	5	16	17	15
53	Sudan	19 / 53	5	14	17	17
54	Somalia	15 / 53	5	10	20	18

And the Africa Visa Openness Index?

The African Development Bank and African Union index measures the same thing with a different weighting: it scores e-visas between visa-required and visa-on-arrival, and classes some electronic authorisations as e-visas. Ranks can differ by a place or two; the leaders are the same. visaopenness.org

Source: passport-index-dataset, compiled from IATA Timatic, dated 2026-07-17. "Open door": visa-free, electronic authorisation or visa on arrival — the Henley Passport Index count. Rules change: the country's official portal is authoritative on the day of travel.