MILLICENT HUNGWE
Burkina Faso has announced the removal of visa fees for all African travellers, a move hailed as a significant step towards promoting Pan-African unity, regional integration, and the free movement of people across the continent.
Security Minister Mahamadou Sana revealed the development recently after a cabinet meeting chaired by junta leader Captain Ibrahim Traoré.
“From now on, any citizen from an African country wishing to go to Burkina Faso will not pay any amount to cover visa fees,” he said.
However, he clarified that African visitors will still be required to submit an online visa application for approval.
The West African nation now joins Ghana, Rwanda, and Kenya in easing travel requirements for Africans, aligning with the African Union’s long-standing call for freer intra-continental mobility.
For citizens of West African countries, entry into Burkina Faso is already visa-free, but questions remain about the future of this arrangement after Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger withdrew from the regional bloc ECOWAS earlier this year.
Captain Traoré, who seized power in a 2022 coup, has cultivated an image as a fierce Pan-Africanist, regularly criticising Western influence and colonial legacies.
His decision to scrap visa fees reflects that ideology and, according to a government statement, aims to “promote tourism, showcase Burkinabe culture, and enhance the country’s visibility abroad.”
Despite this bold gesture, Traoré’s leadership remains deeply contested.
While he has captured the imagination of many young Africans with his charisma and social media-fuelled revolutionary image, critics accuse him of authoritarian tendencies, silencing dissent, and failing to halt the Islamist insurgency that continues to grip Burkina Faso.
Armed jihadist groups currently control an estimated 40% of the country, and violence in the Sahel region has claimed more lives than in any other part of the world.
Nonetheless, the move to abolish visa fees has been widely welcomed as a concrete step toward strengthening African solidarity, by removing financial barriers, Burkina Faso hopes to attract more visitors from across the continent, foster cultural exchange, and support the broader vision of a borderless Africa.
With several countries now adopting visa-free or visa-light policies, momentum appears to be building towards an Africa where borders are less of a barrier, and unity is more than just an idea.
