The embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Kenya on Thursday, December 29, revised travel requirements for Kenyans heading to the Asian country.

According to the notice, China relaxed some restrictions imposed on Kenyan travellers, especially during the pandemic in 2020.

Commencing January 8, 2023, Kenyan travellers will be required to take nucleic acid tests within 48 hours before their flight departures. No Kenyan will be allowed to board a China-bound plane without a clearance certificate.

However, China’s embassy added that Kenyan travellers would be exempted from obtaining a health code before departure.

Upon arriving in China, Kenyans will be expected to fill out a customs form to declare the test results to shield the country from the pandemic.

At the entry point, Kenyans who post positive test results or have any fever symptoms will be required to self-quarantine.

“Given the ongoing pandemic, the above adjustments do not mean the easing of disease control. Travellers are advised to take primary responsibility for their health and use precautionary measures for self-protection,” the Chinese embassy stated.

 “The Chinese government will continue to monitor the latest trends of the pandemic and adjust the disease control practices accordingly to facilitate the entry and exit of personnel,” they added.

Before announcing new travel rules, Kenyans headed to China had to obtain three tests before being allowed to depart.

According to a notice released in April 2022, Kenyans were expected to obtain a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test, nucleic acid, and antigen test 48 hours before boarding a plane.

Travellers were also required to obtain a health code from the embassy in Nairobi.

The revision of the travel restrictions points to good diplomatic relations between Kenya and China since President William Ruto’s ascent to power.

Besides China, other countries also have relaxed travel restrictions imposed on Kenyans during the pandemic.

The US was the first country to relax some strict travel restrictions, including lifting the suspension targeting Kenyan travellers.

Lifting the travel restrictions contributed to the recovery of the tourism sector and stopped job hemorrhages which had forced some big hotels to shut down. It also contributed to economic recovery in the country.

Source: Kenyans.co.ke

The 2022 Africa Visa Openness Index (AVOI) report shows African countries making progress in their freedom of travel policies, most of which had been severely curtailed by the Covid-19 crisis.

The annual publication, prepared by the African Development Bank Group in collaboration with the African Union Commission, is now in its 7th edition and was launched on Sunday on the sidelines of the 2022 African Economic Conference in Mauritius.

The report tracks visa policies adopted by African governments on three main criteria: whether entry to citizens from other African countries is visa-free, if a visa on arrival can be obtained, and whether travellers are required to obtain visas ahead of traveling to other African countries.

This year’s report underlines the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in the last two years (2020 and 2021) during which most countries restricted movement, both domestically and for international travel. Restrictions on international travel ranged from closing entire borders to quarantines, screening measures, and bans on visitors from countries deemed “high risk.”

Domestic restrictions included a gamut of measures such as prohibitions on travelling between provinces, bans on non-essential movement, curfews, and rules that limited gatherings.

The 2022 report reflects on renewed signs of progress: 10 countries have improved their visa openness score over the past year, and visa openness on the continent now exceeds that recorded during the year prior to the Covid-19 pandemic and is in line with the peak score achieved in 2020.

Progressive visa policies that increase visa-free entry or to visa on arrival policies, will ensure that this positive trend continues. The use of technology and a greater adoption of e-Visa systems will help fast-track the ease at which travellers can cross borders.

Highlights of the 2022 Africa Visa Openness Index

African travel has become more open to African citizens in 2022, with fewer restrictions overall. There is now an even split between travel that is visa free, and travel where a visa may be obtained on arrival at the destination country.

• Three countries—Benin, The Gambia and the Seychelles—offer visa-free entry to Africans of all other countries. In 2016 and 2017, only one country did so.
• 24 African countries offer an eVisa—5 more than five years ago.
• 36 countries have improved or maintained their Visa Openness Index score since 2016.
• 50 countries have maintained or improved their Visa Openness Index score relative to 2021, usually after removing some of the visa policy restrictions implemented during the pandemic.
• 48 countries out of 54—the vast majority of African countries—now offer visa-free travel to the nationals of at least one other African country.
• 42 countries offer visa-free travel to the nationals of at least 5 other African countries.

Interestingly, lower income countries account for a large share of the countries that make up the top-20 ranked countries in 2022 with liberal visa policies: 45% of countries in the top-20 on the index are classified as low-income countries, while a further 45% of countries are classified as lower middle-income.

EVisas allow prospective travelers to apply for a visa from the comfort of their home or workplace ahead of travel, streamline the application process reduce time at borders, provide a greater measure of certainty ahead of travel, reduce the need to submit a passport for processing to consular offices, and make travel safer and more secure.

African Union Commission Deputy Chairperson Dr. Monique Nsanzabaganwa said: “This edition links free movement to the development of regional value chains, investments, trade in services and the AfCFTA. There is greater recognition that human mobility is key to Africa’s integration efforts.”

African Development Bank Group Acting Vice President in charge of Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, remarked: “The Africa Visa Openness Index has been tracking visa openness as a measure of the freedom of movement since 2016. This year’s edition—the seventh—shows many African countries having greatly simplified their visa regime over the past year.”

The 2022 edition of the Report showcases three countries that have made the most progress in their visa openness, namely Burundi, Djibouti and Ethiopia. Ethiopia in particular has risen several places on the index to regain her position in the continent’s top 20 performers after removing the temporary measures instituted in 2021.

In an innovation, the report provides an analysis of free movement of persons at regional economic community level in Africa. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the East African Community are the most open communities, with ECOWAS hosting eight of the top ten countries.

Commenting on the report, African Development Bank Group Acting Director in charge of the Regional Integration Coordination Office Jean-Guy Afrika, said: “The Africa Visa Openness Index has tracked the evolution of visa regimes on the African continent from before the pandemic to today. As the 2022 report shows, African countries are dismantling many of the measures imposed during the pandemic. Indeed, on the whole, the continent has returned to a level of visa openness last seen just before the pandemic began.”

Some key statistics:

• For 27% of intra-Africa* travel, African citizens do not need a visa, up from 25% in 2021.
• For 27% of intra-Africa* travel, African citizens can obtain a visa on arrival, up from 24% in 2021.
• For 47% of intra-Africa* travel, African citizens are still required to obtain a visa before travelling, an improvement of the 51% in 2021.

*Intra-Africa travel refers to travel by African citizens between African countries.

Source: AfDB

Authorities in Kenya and Eritrea have reached an agreement to facilitate the travel process by lifting the visa requirements for citizens of each other’s countries.

According to both countries’ authorities, the new decision would further tighten the bilateral relations, and also facilitate the travel process.

The decision was reached at a meeting held between the President of Kenya, William Ruto as well as his counterpart from Eritrea, Isaias Afwerki. The leaders also agreed to tighten cooperation in the African Union, “in the spirit of Pan-Africanism”. 

“We will keep working together to promote regional trade and investment,” President Ruto said.

In addition, they also agreed to cooperate and consult on regional integration and also to safeguard regional peace, as well as the development and security in the Horn of Africa.

The presidents of both countries also discussed the importance of promoting regional trade as well as an investment through developing regional, sea, land and air transport.

At present, all Kenyan citizens are required to have a visa when planning to travel to Eritrea and vice versa, however, the recent changes will contribute to further easing the travel process.

Authorities in Kenya in November announced that they had reached a visa -free agreement with South Africa whose decision will become effective starting from January next year.

Through an agreement reached between both countries’ presidents, it was emphasized that citizens of both countries would be eligible to enter each other’s countries.

Source: EABW News

You probably enjoy flying! However, the same can’t always be said for children, especially those flying alone. If you ever find yourself having to send your child on a flight by themselves, here’s what you need to know.

Unaccompanied minor programs

With flying becoming an increasingly accessible mode of travel, it is more common than you’d expect that, for various reasons, children fly without the accompaniment of a parent or guardian. This is why many airlines these days offer programs for unaccompanied minors.

Services can range from basic chaperoned assistance to more comprehensive travel support, depending on what’s offered by your airline of choice. Generally, all unaccompanied minor programs are designed to cushion a child’s stress and fear of traveling alone and to reassure parents that their child is well taken care of.

Requirements

• Age: Almost all airlines do not allow children under the age of five to fly unaccompanied. Those above five can fly alone – provided the airline has an unaccompanied minor program. However, some airlines require the child to be at least 12. If your child is aged 16 and older, they will be considered an adult, so chaperoned services will not be available to them.
• Documentation: Apart from your child’s passport, you will also need to provide documents detailing the responsible adult who will be picking up and dropping off your child. Your child will only be allowed to leave with the nominated adult at the arrival point if relevant identification documents, such as a passport or driver’s license, are provided.
• Important information: Crucial details, including travel insurance and medical information for allergies and medications, should be provided to the airline prior to the trip. It is also advisable that you provide more than one emergency contact detail should an incident occur during the journey.

Checking in

Right through the check-in process, minors must be accompanied by a responsible adult. Once the child is checked in, a member of the cabin crew will then guide them through security and onto the aircraft. Minors are given priority boarding so that they can get settled on the plane before the rest of the passengers board.

Parents or guardians are encouraged to remain at the airport until after the departure time, just in case the flight is unable to depart for any reason.

Extra precautions

While these rules and regulations generally apply to most airlines that offer chaperoned services, the level of service can vary. Also, do note that there are often additional costs involved. It’s a good idea to confirm the exact requirements and regulations of the airline you are booking your child’s flight with.

https://d57295122e4cede2e9fb9ab65a9fb060.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html For example, Jetstar recently came under fire for removing an unaccompanied 11-year-old from a flight. The flight booking was originally made through Qantas, the low-cost carrier’s parent company, which allows unaccompanied minors. Jetstar, however, does not allow children under 15 to travel alone.

Source: Simple Flying

Momentum is building behind the Single African Air Transport Market, or SAATM, a flagship project designed to create a single unified air transport market in Africa, organized by the International Air Transport Association.

New routes should be easier to launch without the need for reciprocal services, and 17 African countries have now agreed to test the initiative, out of a total of 35 country signatories (which represents 80 percent of the existing aviation market in Africa.)

They are: Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, South Africa, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Ghana, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo, Zambia, Niger and Gabon,

The 17 airlines will now open their air transport markets to each other as part of a new “SAATM Project Implementation Pilot.” According to reports, Kenya Airways will target corporate travel in a new Ghana-Senegal route, starting December 11.

The pilot routes come as more steps are being taken to create a new continental airline following a pact between South African Airways and Kenya Airways. Earlier this month a long-term business proposal was struck, which includes migration policies and trading privileges.

The air transport plan could eventually generate $4.2 billion in additional gross domestic product), 600,000 new jobs, a 27 percent reduction in fares and make a contribution to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, according to reports. For example, currently some routes between neigboring African countries involve connecting flights to nearby major international hubs.

The Single African Air Transport Market was established in 2018 and is considered as a step towards the full liberalization of the continent’s air transport market.

Source: Skift

Countries must see younger travellers as an investment despite new obstacles to growing this market sector, experts have urged. A WTM London audience heard how younger travellers were the first to return after Covid and collectively had the most disposable income.

Sally Cope, Tourism Australia’s regional general manager, UK & Northern Europe, said Australia had long seen the value of younger travellers, backpackers and those taking a working holiday: “It gives people their first taste of travel, it’s an investment.”

She said pre-Covid, 250,000 jobs were filled in Australia under the working visa scheme and that only 40,000 of these workers had remained when borders closed. “Our industry noticed that.”
Long-stay visitor spend often exceeded that of luxury travellers, she said, with the average at around AUS $10,000. Recognising this, Australia has extended its working visa scheme to those aged up to 35 and for three years. The requirement to do farm work in the second year has been removed.

“That opens up a whole new audience of digital nomads and those with a mid-career gap.”

Steve Lowy, chair of the British Educational Travel Association (BETA), said there were other benefits to communities from youth travel. More than other types, youths ended to stay in more suburban locations and buy locally, spreading the benefits, he said.

There were more spin-offs: “I have 1,000 students in London. I would say 40% of their parents have come and visited them. There is no marketing needed.”

Andrew Brown, the World Travel & Tourism Council’s New Zealand-born director of commercial and membership, said his country’s attitude to backpackers was not as positive as Australia’s. “They are seen as low value travellers, but they are not, because they spread awareness.” This meant parents often visited after their children had shown them what there was to see.

The panel advised countries to offer ‘landing packages’ which sorted out initial accommodation, banking and safety worries for young visitors. This was an issue now parents were in constant touch on social media. “Smooth that out and you will go for gold,” said Brown.

He praised Portugal’s traveller employment scheme. “Portugal looked at the gap in the market that they didn’t have yet.” He added Canada was also proactive, with 35 job schemes for overseas youth, while the UK had six.

Source: Breaking Travel News

Kenya and South Africa, some of the two strongest economies on the African continent, have agreed to reduce barriers to cross-border movement by allowing visa free travel between them.

The pact agreed upon by Kenya’s President William Ruto and his South African counterpart on November 9, 2022, will resolve a long-standing visa dispute between the two countries. With the formalisation, Kenyans will, from January 2023, be eligible for visa free travel to South Africa for up to three months (90 days) in a calendar year.

Already, South Africans get free visas on arrival in the East African nation, a gesture Kenyans have wanted to be reciprocated for a long time. For Kenyans travelling to South Africa, they were required to pay US$40 for the visa while they also had to provide proof they had sufficient funds and had booked return flight tickets.

The Kenya and South Africa visa deal will take effect on January 1, kicking off the visa free travel arrangement.

At the time of the announcement, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was in Kenya for his first official trip to the country at the invitation of President Ruto.

Ramaphosa said they discussed the visas issue between Kenya and South Africa to allow Kenyans to visit the Southern African nation visa-free basis.

“This will officially start on January 1, 2023, and it will be available to Kenyans for a 90-day period per year,” he said.

In addition, the Kenyan and South African leaders directed their respective trade ministers to work on removing barriers limiting trade between the two African countries. The two countries are also working to address trade barriers to increase business and trade cooperation which will now be easier with visa free travel.

Following a meeting between Presidents Ruto and Ramaphosa, they said that Kenya and South Africa will deal with non-tariff barriers like the bureaucracy in licensing, regulation restrictions and sanctions which will allow the opening up for business in industries, export of agricultural produce and logistics.

The two leaders signed four instruments, and the removal of the trade barriers agreement was part of this to foster cooperation.

President Ruto said that with his counterpart they agreed to develop a sustainable mechanism for the identification, monitoring and resolution of non-trade barriers that limit trade potential between Kenya and South Africa.

Additionally, three memoranda of understanding between Kenya and South Africa were signed and a cooperation of correctional sciences agreement was inked on housing and human settlement and cooperation between the Kenya School of Government and the South African National School of Governments on audio-visual co-production.

The decision to allow Kenyans visa-free travel to South Africa could boost Kenya’s passport which was ranked among the favourite passports in Africa in July by the Henley Passport Index Report.

Kenya was ranked 76th globally, having improved by one point from 77th last year.

The Henley Passport Index mobility score stood at 72. The score measures the number of countries a passport holder from a certain nation can travel to without a visa.

In Africa, the Kenyan passport was ranked the most powerful after Seychelles, Mauritius, South Africa, Botswana, eSwatini, Malawi and Lesotho.

Even as Kenya and South Africa relax their visa requirements, Africans continue harbouring hope that there will be an African Passport for every African to enable visa free travel on the continent.

An African passport would be instrumental in relaxing travel restrictions and breaking barriers in mobility and intra-African trade.

The African passport is a flagship project of the African Union (AU)’s Agenda 2063, which envisions an integrated continent that is politically united and based on the ideals of Pan-Africanism with the vision of Africa’s Renaissance.

An African passport would help collapse both physical and invisible barriers that have thwarted and limited the integration of the African people. It would be a key component of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) which could immensely benefit from visa free travel.

To test the systems, the AU unified African passport was launched in July 2016 at the 27th Ordinary session of the AU held in Kigali, Rwanda. It was scheduled to be availed to Africans by 2020, but with the pandemic, the plans seem to have been shelved.

Currently, only AU officials, diplomats and government leaders have been issued the passport, which holds the potential to bring down Africa’s physical barriers to visa free travel.

On successful launch, the African passport will become a common document that will replace the nationally issued AU member states’ passports. It will exempt bearers from having to obtain any visas for all 55 African states easing visa free travel.

Just like it has been happening with nationally issued documents, the three types of AU passports to be issued will include the Ordinary Passport, which is 32 pages and valid for five years. This document will be issued to citizens intended for occasional travel like business trips and vacations making visa free travel a reality.

Government institutions with officials travelling on official business will be issued the official or Service passport will be issued to officials attached to.

At the same time, the two leaders hailed Ethiopia’s peace agreement signed last week brokered by the African Union in South Africa.

Ruto and Ramaphosa appealed to the Ethiopian parties to fully implement the agreement for a lasting political settlement.

Source: The Exchange