Africans wanting to travel for business, leisure, or any other legitimate reasons to Kenya may not need a visa to fulfil such ambitions, says Alfred Mutua, Kenya Tourism Minister.
Mutua said that it is a significant move to allow Africans and the rest of the world to connect to their ancestral homeland, as the country is known to be the home of the human race.
He made this declaration at the World Travels and Tourism Council discussion in Kigali, Rwanda, on Thursday, where he promised that the East African country has decided to adopt the same immigration approach used by Rwanda to attract thousands of visitors annually.
“Kenya has announced that nobody on earth will need a visa to visit starting January 1, 2024,” Mutua said. “We are learning from Rwanda, for example, that has opened up visas to increase their ability for Africans to travel. All Africans can come to Kenya without requiring any visa, so that they can come, stay, trade, and visit because Africans are very good tourists, but they don’t have the ability to connect.”
He said that the government of President William Ruto is planning to expand these visa-free opportunities to other continents by connecting the world to their ancestral home of Kenya.
“But we want to move it further to the rest of the world. As most of you know and as President William Ruto has repeated many times—the findings by archaeologists that the first human being was found in Kenya in a place called Tucana,” he explained.
Unlike in the past, where there were several bottlenecks to entry into Kenya for tourism, the tourism minister promised that, starting next year, they were going to make it easier to come to the country.
Mutua said, “We need to open up; we need to make it easier for people to come and travel. But it is not just about the visa regime; it is also about making it comfortable. You know the travellers also want a source of comfort.”
He highlighted the entertainment value of Africa, referencing Dubai and other global travel hotspots, stating, “Africa is the home for music and drama. So let them come and be entertained, and then go back to find their ancestors.”
When quizzed further about the government decision to allow Africans visa-free entry into the country, he reinstated his point by saying, “That is a programme we are working towards and the whole legal mechanism, but that is what we are targeting by the beginning of next year.
“All Africans should pack their bags and come to Kenya, and within a very short time, we are hoping that we can open up Kenya to the rest of the world. This year, no African will need a visa to come to Kenya.”
Reacting to the decision by the Kenyan government to open the borders of the country to all Africans and perhaps the rest of the world, Larry Madowo, of CNN, who moderated the event, wrote on his X (formerly known as Twitter) handle that “Even though nobody will need a visa to visit Kenya, you’ll still need to apply for an Electronic Travel Authorization. It costs a little money and may take up to 3 days to be approved, so technically a visa?”
Madowo, however, stated that there hasn’t been any official communication regarding this policy from either the foreign office or the interior officer.
He tweeted, “There’s still no official communication from @ForeignOfficeKE @InteriorKE just days before Kenya is supposed to drop visas for everyone. No plan here, just announcements and vibes.”
The announcement has stirred reactions on X, with some expressing enthusiasm about the prospect of visiting and engaging in business in the largest East African country next year.
Lydia Joyce Akol tweeted, “These announcements and vibes should better come true. Trade with Kenya, especially for small businesses, will grow on high levels.”
Ramesh Saxena, however, expressed cautious optimism, preferring to wait for its implementation and the implications of such a policy. “We give them the day; see where it leads us,” he tweeted.
Once this policy is implemented, Kenya will join the elite club of African countries—Rwandan, Seychelles, Gambia, and Benin Republic—to allow Africans entry without requiring a visa—a move many consider strategic enough to attract investment and trade.