The Gambia Tops Visa Openness Index in Africa For 2020

The Gambia has risen to the top of the Visa Openness Index for Africa in 2020 by offering visa-free entry to all African travellers.  According to the Nigeria-based Africa Travel and Tourism News Source (www.atqnews.com), The Gambia moved up 19 places in the index in 2020 by offering visa-free entry to all African travellers, and almost doubling its score in the last year.

According to the journal, The Gambia has fully liberalized its visa policy in line with its commitment to African integration, having signed up to the Free Movement of Persons Protocol and the Single African Air Transport Market in addition to having ratified the AfCFTA

The Gambia joins Seychelles and Benin in allowing visa-free access for all African travellers. The journalism said The Gambia has been a top performer in the Index over the last five years.

News of this new credential for The Gambia came as the country received its first tourist charter flight from the UK since the outbreak of the Corona virus pandemic.  The country also reopened its land and maritime borders in mid-October and it recently reopened its extensively refurbished international airport.  The Gambia’s Covid-19 infection rate has remained in single digits for nearly two months but travellers are required to have in their possession a negative Covid-19 test result taken not more than 72 hours before departure.