Visas can complicate the travel experience greatly. Whether one is needed or not largely depends on where a traveler is starting from and where they are going. That being said, applying for and acquiring the right visa can be difficult at the absolute best of times. Increasingly, countries are working with neighbors and partner countries to create visa-free travel options. This encourages various forms of tourism from local to around the world.
China and Europe have both been at the forefront of these efforts. For its part, China continues to expand its visa-free program to include potential tourists from more countries. And Europe continues to expand its visa-free zone to include more countries in the European Union. Ghana has taken a similar step by making it easier for passport holders from other African nations to stop by.
Announced last month, outgoing President Nana Akufo-Addo has made the plan official. With the new year, anyone with an African passport is now able to visit Ghana without needing a visa. This makes Ghana the fifth country in the continent to offer visa-free travel to the rest of the countries in Africa. The Seychelles, Rwanda, Benin, and The Gambia are the other countries with this program in place for anyone with an African passport.
This level of openness will likely continue to develop through other African countries. In addition to promoting tourism, such measures will also encourage an increase in free-trade and cultural growth. The potential economic benefits of closer ties between African countries is impossible to fully estimate. While those are long term goals, the short term benefits to the tourism industry cannot be ignored. Inter-African cooperation will definitely strengthen that industry further.