Ghana Now Provides Visa-Free Travel to all Africans

All African passport holders are now able to visit Ghana without needing a visa, outgoing President Nana Akufo-Addo said this past month.

He announced the plan in November but in his final state-of-the-nation address he said that the policy will take effect as of January 1st.

Visa-free travel within the continent has long been an aspiration for those promoting pan-African values and is seen as vital for economic cooperation.

Ghana is now the fifth African country to offer this to travelers from the rest of the continent. Rwanda, Seychelles, The Gambia and Benin are the others.

"I am proud to have approved visa-free travel to Ghana for all African passport holders, with effect from the beginning of this year," Akufo-Addo told lawmakers in his last address to parliament before he steps down next week after eight years in office.

"This is the logical next step to the African Continental Free Trade Area and the workings of the largest trading bloc in the world," he said referring to the zone that came into effect four years ago.

In an annual African ranking of visa-openness, Ghana was placed fifth last year as it already offered visa-free travel to citizens of 26 continental countries.