Which African countries require no visa from Africans?

Benin, Gambia, Rwanda, Seychelles: visa-free for the 53 other African passports covered by the data dated 2026-02-17.

Which African passport opens the most doors in Africa?

Cape Verde: 34 of 53 African countries without a prior application (24 visa-free).

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

30.1% of the 2,862 passport → country routes are visa-free, and 51.4% need no prior application once electronic authorisations and visas on arrival are counted.

Visa

Africa open to Africans, country by country

30.1% of 2,862 intra-African routes are visa-free; 51.4% need no prior application at all.

4 countries require no visa from any African: Benin, Gambia, Rwanda, Seychelles. Data dated 2026-02-17, 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	Rwanda	53 / 53	53	0	0	0
1	Seychelles	53 / 53	53	0	0	0
5	Kenya	53 / 53	52	1	0	0
6	Ivory Coast	53 / 53	21	32	0	0
7	Cape Verde	53 / 53	17	36	0	0
8	Guinea-Bissau	53 / 53	14	39	0	0
9	Burundi	53 / 53	6	47	0	0
10	Djibouti	53 / 53	0	53	0	0
10	Comoros	53 / 53	0	53	0	0
12	Ghana	52 / 53	30	22	0	1
13	Madagascar	52 / 53	0	52	0	1
14	Mozambique	51 / 53	12	39	2	0
15	Sierra Leone	49 / 53	15	34	4	0
16	Ethiopia	48 / 53	2	46	5	0
17	Mauritius	47 / 53	26	21	0	6
18	Senegal	47 / 53	22	25	0	6
19	Tanzania	42 / 53	22	20	11	0
20	Namibia	39 / 53	13	26	14	0
21	Zambia	27 / 53	20	7	26	0
22	Malawi	27 / 53	17	10	26	0
22	Zimbabwe	27 / 53	17	10	26	0
24	Uganda	22 / 53	22	0	31	0
25	Mali	22 / 53	20	2	0	31
26	Tunisia	21 / 53	21	0	0	32
27	Guinea	20 / 53	20	0	33	0
27	South Africa	20 / 53	20	0	16	17
29	Angola	19 / 53	19	0	0	34
30	Niger	18 / 53	18	0	0	35
31	Burkina Faso	17 / 53	17	0	36	0
31	Botswana	17 / 53	17	0	36	0
31	Nigeria	17 / 53	17	0	36	0
31	Eswatini	17 / 53	17	0	0	36
35	Lesotho	16 / 53	16	0	0	37
36	Chad	15 / 53	15	0	38	0
36	Togo	15 / 53	15	0	38	0
38	Liberia	14 / 53	14	0	33	6
39	Republic of the Congo	14 / 53	5	9	0	39
40	Central African Republic	13 / 53	13	0	0	40
41	Morocco	12 / 53	4	8	1	40
42	São Tomé & Príncipe	10 / 53	10	0	43	0
43	Gabon	9 / 53	9	0	44	0
43	Mauritania	9 / 53	9	0	44	0
45	DR Congo	7 / 53	4	3	46	0
46	Somalia	7 / 53	1	6	46	0
47	Cameroon	6 / 53	6	0	47	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, 34 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	34 / 53	24	10	11	8
2	Ghana	33 / 53	26	7	11	9
2	Gambia	33 / 53	26	7	11	9
4	Senegal	32 / 53	23	9	14	7
5	Benin	32 / 53	22	10	14	7
5	Ivory Coast	32 / 53	22	10	13	8
7	Seychelles	32 / 53	21	11	14	7
8	Kenya	32 / 53	20	12	13	8
9	Rwanda	32 / 53	17	15	11	10
10	Mauritius	31 / 53	21	10	13	9
10	Niger	31 / 53	21	10	15	7
12	Tanzania	31 / 53	20	11	12	10
13	Sierra Leone	30 / 53	23	7	13	10
14	Burkina Faso	30 / 53	20	10	15	8
14	Togo	30 / 53	20	10	13	10
16	Morocco	30 / 53	19	11	15	8
16	South Africa	30 / 53	19	11	14	9
18	Tunisia	30 / 53	18	12	15	8
19	Guinea	29 / 53	18	11	16	8
20	Gabon	29 / 53	14	15	15	9
20	Equatorial Guinea	29 / 53	14	15	14	10
22	Mali	28 / 53	21	7	16	9
23	Guinea-Bissau	28 / 53	19	9	14	11
23	Liberia	28 / 53	19	9	15	10
23	Mozambique	28 / 53	19	9	14	11
23	Zimbabwe	28 / 53	19	9	15	10
27	Botswana	28 / 53	18	10	15	10
27	Malawi	28 / 53	18	10	15	10
27	Eswatini	28 / 53	18	10	15	10
30	Lesotho	28 / 53	17	11	15	10
30	Namibia	28 / 53	17	11	15	10
30	Zambia	28 / 53	17	11	15	10
33	Uganda	28 / 53	16	12	14	11
34	Angola	27 / 53	16	11	15	11
35	Chad	27 / 53	15	12	16	10
36	Republic of the Congo	27 / 53	13	14	16	10
36	Madagascar	27 / 53	13	14	16	10
38	Cameroon	27 / 53	12	15	15	11
39	Algeria	27 / 53	11	16	18	8
40	Mauritania	26 / 53	15	11	18	9
41	Nigeria	25 / 53	19	6	17	11
42	Central African Republic	25 / 53	12	13	16	12
43	Burundi	25 / 53	10	15	14	14
44	São Tomé & Príncipe	25 / 53	9	16	16	12
45	Comoros	24 / 53	8	16	16	13
46	DR Congo	22 / 53	9	13	17	14
47	South Sudan	20 / 53	9	11	18	15
48	Djibouti	20 / 53	8	12	19	14
49	Egypt	20 / 53	7	13	19	14
49	Libya	20 / 53	7	13	20	13
51	Ethiopia	20 / 53	5	15	20	13
52	Eritrea	18 / 53	6	12	21	14
53	Sudan	17 / 53	6	11	21	15
54	Somalia	15 / 53	5	10	22	16

The African Passport Index: all 54 passports ranked worldwide, and what changed in a year

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-data, compiled from passportindex.org, dated 2026-02-17. "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.