Ghana to allow visa-free travel for all African passport holders

In a landmark move announced by President Akufo-Addo, Ghana has eliminated visa requirements for all African passport holders effective January 1, 2025, becoming the fifth African nation to adopt this open-door policy after Rwanda, Seychelles, The Gambia and Benin.

Effective 1 January, 2025, all African passport holders will be able to visit Ghana without needing a visa. 

The announcement was made on Friday, 4 January by outgoing President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in his final State of the Nation Address. 

"I am proud to have approved visa-free travel to Ghana for all African passport holders, with effect from the beginning of this year," he said before a crowd of lawmakers.

Ghana is now the fifth African country to adopt such a policy, joining Rwanda, Seychelles, The Gambia and Benin. 

Speaking on the significance of this move, the President said, “This is the logical next step for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the workings of the largest trading bloc in the world. All these are essential elements for the realization of the AU'S Agenda 2063, which envisions an integrated and connected Africa by 2063."

Ghana has been at the forefront of promoting travel & tourism within the Black diaspora, launching a successful ‘Year of Return’ drive in 2019, a year-long programme of activities to mark 400 years since the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in the US and encourage tourism from the descendants of the trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. The country has reported a year-on-year rise in foreign visits since 2019. 

The 2024 annual African rankings of visa-openness placed Ghana fifth last year, owing to its visa-free travel offerings to citizens of 26 continental countries, including Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa. 

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