Togo has removed visa requirements for all African citizens visiting the country for up to 30 days to making travel across the continent easier.
The new rule started on Monday 18 May. It means African passport holders can now enter Togo without a visa for short stays, as long as they complete an online travel form before arrival.
Togo’s Minister of Security, Colonel Calixte Batossie Madjoulba, said the goal is to turn the country into “a space of openness, mobility, opportunity, and cooperation at the heart of the African continent.”
Travellers must fill in a travel declaration on the government website at least 24 hours before they travel. After that, they receive a digital travel slip that must be shown at border control. Officials say normal checks on security, health and passport validity will still apply, and overstaying the 30 days is still punishable.
The policy was announced during the opening of the third Biashara Afrika Business Forum in Lomé by Faure Gnassingbé, President of Togo’s Council. It is part of a wider effort to support trade and business across Africa.
The change is meant to reduce the paperwork and costs that often slow down traders, entrepreneurs, consultants and students moving between African countries. It also supports the African Continental Free Trade Area, which aims to create a single market for about 1.4 billion people.
Togo joins a small group of African countries that allow visa-free travel for African citizens. That group includes Seychelles, The Gambia, Benin, Rwanda and Ghana.
Across the continent, only about 28% of travel between African countries is fully visa-free, according to the African Development Bank. Most cross-border travel still requires visas or electronic permits.
Countries in this group are using different systems to make travel easier, often adding online pre-registration instead of traditional visas. Some, like Ghana, are also linking these changes to wider campaigns encouraging regional and diaspora travel.
Even with visa-free entry, travel is not completely open. Border checks, health screenings and security controls are still in place. Many countries are also shifting to digital pre-travel systems, which still require advance planning and internet access.
