The Seychelles and Israeli governments signed an agreement last week allowing citizens from both countries to travel freely without the need for a visa.
Seychelles has already abolished visas for all visitors from other African countries.
The signing ceremony was done by Michael Lotem, the Israeli Ambassador to Seychelles, after he had held talks with Seychelles’ Minister for Tourism Affairs, Sylvestre Radegonde, and other ministry officials.
With this agreement, Seychelles becomes one of the strongest passports in the world, ranking 26th in global passport rankings of 2024.
The Henley Passport Index placed it first from Africa, followed by Mauritius in 30th place globally. South Africa is third-ranked and 53rd globally.
Intra-African movement of the continent’s citizens has been steadily made easier in the past few years by the easing of visa restrictions.
The Africa Visa Openness Index (AVOI) 2023, published recently, reveals much progress since the seventh edition of the report was published in December 2022.
The visa openness achieved its highest score ever in 2023, surpassing levels last seen before the Covid-19 pandemic. The AVOI measures the extent to which African countries are open to visitors from other African countries.
Over the period 2020-21, massive border closures to curb the spread of Covid-19 affected land and air travel, with additional restrictions due to screening measures, bans on gatherings, quarantines and such, causing stagnation in 2022.
In 2023, data from the report shows that 50 countries improved or maintained their 2022 score, with only four countries scoring lower. Since the first report was published in 2016, 36 countries have improved their score on the index. Forty-two countries extend visa-free entry to citizens from at least five other African countries, while 33 countries do so to citizens of at least 10 countries. Four countries - up from three last year - have eliminated all visa requirements for African travellers. They are Rwanda, Benin, The Gambia, and Seychelles.
All key overall matrices have shown improvements in 2023. In 28% of all intra-Africa travel scenarios, African citizens do not require a visa (an improvement from 27% in 2022 and 20% in 2016). A visa is still required in 46% of travel scenarios on the continent - down from 47% in 2022 and 55% in 2016.
''It makes it easier for Africans to visit their families, pursue education and business interests abroad, and discover Africa as tourists. It also contributes towards the fulfilment of aspirations for a prosperous, integrated continent where people can develop their potential, unhampered by overly restrictive visa regimes,'' noted Jean-Guy Afrika, acting director of the African Development Bank's Regional Integration Coordination Office.
Twenty-four countries now offer an e-visa, almost three times as many as in 2016.
Fifteen countries improved their score in 2023, 35 maintained their scores, while only four scored lower.
West African countries continue to lead the rankings: seven of the continent's top-10 performers are from West Africa.
