Africa Visa Openness Report 2016
- Publisher:
- AfDB
- Publication Date:
- 4 September 2016
- Tags:
- Economy, Business and Finance, Trade, Transport and Shipping, Travel and Tourism
In the Africa Visa Openness Report 2016, visa openness means how easy it is for African travellers to visit another country on the continent. A more visa-open country has a liberal or relaxed visa policy for travellers, so that visitors either do not need a visa when they enter or can get a visa on arrival. A more visa-restrictive country requires visitors to get a visa before they travel, in most cases from an Embassy. Visas are used for different reasons, whether as a security measure to control the entry and duration of the stay of people coming into a country or to limit a visitor's activities, generate revenue or show reciprocity to match the treatment other countries give to their citizens. Yet the visa question represents so much more than getting an entry stamp in a passport. Visa openness is about facilitating free movement of people. It is about getting more people mobile, to carry out their business easily, spontaneously, quickly, with minimum cost. That applies whether you are a businessman or woman, a student or researcher, a cross-border trader or entrepreneur, reuniting with friends and family or just travelling to visit the sights.
