Why Kenya is back to the drawing board with its electronic travel authorisation system
Travellers queue as their valuables go through screening at the International Arrival Terminal 1A at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya on November 7, 2023.
Kenya has been forced to review its electronic travel authorisation (eTA) system, which many travellers had faulted as a visa by another name. But government officials in Nairobi argue the decision is a response to feedback from users, rather than an admission of being a mistake.
The Cabinet, on December 17, noted that despite Kenya’s being a leading destination, and following the introduction of eTA, various stakeholders had raised concerns about its functionality, necessitating its review.
The system, which was introduced in January 2024, requires travellers to apply online for an electronic authorisation, some kind of entry permit, before leaving their departure countries. This can take up to three days to process and hence travellers must act at least 72 hours before their flight.
Critics, however, say the system has no window for emergency travel and that the fee charged made the eTA a visa by another name. President William Ruto had, on the contrary, said he was abolishing visas to make Kenya an easier destination to visit.
Yet the impact of the system has not been the one envisioned. Kenya's ranking in the 2024 Africa Visa Openness Index (AVOI) shows that the country dropped 17 places to 46th out of 54 nations following the introduction of eTA.
Among countries in the region, Rwanda stays at the top, while Burundi, which offers visa on arrival for non-EAC citizens, Somalia, which requires a visa on arrival for all, except Kenya and Tanzania are all top-20 on the index.
According to the report published in November, this is the worst score for Kenya since the AVOI began in 2016, which some travellers have criticised as “a visa under another name.”
AVOI, backed by the African Union and run by the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), evaluates the accessibility of African countries based on visa policies.
The move prompted President Ruto who has now authorised a review of eTA to enable the country to meet its target of five million visitors in the next two years.
“Affirming Kenya’s growing appeal as a destination of choice for foreign tourists, the meeting noted that, driven by the nation’s groundbreaking introduction of visa-free entry, Kenya is on track to meet its ambitious target of welcoming five million tourists by 2027,” said Ruto after a Cabinet meeting last week.
“To further enhance Kenya's competitiveness, the Cabinet sanctioned a review and strengthening of the electronic Travel authorisation system, in response to various concerns from stakeholders.”
Kenya says it is keen to make most services digital and has targeted the immigration department, especially to turn around its visa index performance.
“The government has on-boarded 18,000 services through the National e-citizen platform and with other immigration functions now collects an estimated Sh400 billion ($3.1 billion) per year,” said Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi last week.
“I noted that in the financial year 2023/2024, the State Department (Immigration and e-Citizen) had issued 539,810 passports, 28,121 work permits, 186,892 temporary permits, 566,294 visas, and 666,475 electronic travel authorisation.”
Review kick-off
But despite the revenues, eTA’s failure to perform as expected has put it in the spotlight.
Tourism Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Miano said the review will kick off on January 7, 2025, first by talking to the critics.
“We have scheduled a multi-sectoral engagement on 7th January 2025 to review and discuss the eTA in detail based on the concerns raised and the results of the Africa Visa Openness Index. I will keep all stakeholders updated until we improve the visa openness index,” said Ms Miano.
Kenya’s tourism industry, which is one of the country's largest foreign exchange earners and employer, with 80 percent of its staff being young people, recorded 2.5 million tourist arrivals in 2024, up from 1.9 million, last year.
“The previous year saw a 35.4 percent rise in arrivals from 2022, an indication that tourist numbers are poised to grow by a record one million visitors over the span of two years,” said Ruto.
In the first half of 2024, Kenya's tourism industry saw a 21.3 percent increase in revenue, reaching Sh142.5 billion.
But the introduction of an eTA system lowered its accessibility score. The eTA requires travellers to: apply online, submit documents such as flight details and hotel bookings and pay a $30 fee before travel. Some countries are exempted from the fee under a bilateral arrangement but they still have to apply for the eTA. Citizens of the East African Community, however, are exempted from the eTA.
It is the reason why, while welcoming the government’s decision to review the eTA, tourism stakeholders want Kenya to grant visa-free entry to countries that do so.
“Let us reciprocate for all the countries that give Kenya visa-free entry. The reason why we dropped in our rankings on the Visa openness index is when we lumped everyone in the eTA,” said Mohammed Hersi, group director of operations, Pollmans Tours & Safaris.
“One more thing, we should also have eTA on arrival and the government of Kenya should charge double for that. An eTA desk for visa on arrivals akin to Huduma centres will also create employment.”
Hersi said a return to the old system would also be preferable especially as it would attract the rich.
Before the introduction of the eTA, visitors from more than 40 countries including several from Africa, were able to arrive in Kenya, get a stamp on their passport and enter without paying money.
“We have many EU and North Americans who want to visit Kenya on short notice. Let's harvest all these low-hanging fruits. Some of the elderly visitors are not very happy with online applications. You'll be surprised that many of them prefer the old system and these are the high spenders (old money).”
The East African Community recorded a lower score in 2023, 71 percent, mainly due to Somalia and South Sudan requiring a visa on arrival from all travellers.
The region would otherwise have maintained an unchanged visa-free reciprocity score.
Hersi observed that tourism today represents nine percent of global GDP, 30 percent of the world’s export services and one in every 11 jobs worldwide, a sector that should be given more focus.
“These are encouraging facts, especially in the context of a challenging global economy. But we cannot ignore that it is also a serious responsibility.”
Stakeholders in the tourism sector say the number of travellers would be higher if the country stopped increasing taxes and levies that affect the industry.
“We need motivation in the sector rather than constant increase and introduction of new levies,” said Victor Shitakha, chairman of the Kenya Coast Tourism Association.
Visa policy changes
In 2024, several countries including Kenya implemented visa policy changes.
Some have been bold, instituting positive visa reforms, which have resulted in tangible progress towards a more open continent.
Citizens of East African Community -- Burundi, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, DRC and Somalia -- can receive a free pass or entry visa upon arrival to stay for up to six months within the EAC.
Many have involved bilateral changes in visa policy, often on a reciprocal basis. However, the African Union 2063 agenda envisages the removal of visas for all Africans.
“That Africans continue to require visas for the most part to enter other African countries is one of the most profound contradictions to the continent’s aspirations on regional integration,” said Dr Joy Kategekwa, director Regional Integration Coordination Office, African Development Bank Group during the release of the AVOI 2024 report.
“A unique feature of this report is the investigation of the question of eTAs, which, notwithstanding intent, resemble features of a visa.”
The report, which also updates on emerging opportunities for mobility in the AfCFTA and reflects on the status of the Protocol on the Free Movement of Persons (PFMP) makes clear recommendations to African countries on free movement of people.
“One thing is clear – Africa will not meet its development aspirations in the absence of regimes that promote mobility across the continent,” said Kategekwa.
“Think of tourism. There is no single country that does not want to reap the dividends of tourism – given the continent’s abundance of some of the most historic attractions. And yet, visa restrictions make it difficult for Africans to contribute to each other’s tourism revenues.”
The report also updates on emerging opportunities for mobility in the AfCFTA and reflects on the status of the Protocol on the Free Movement of Persons (PFMP).
A number of African countries are embracing the notion of freedom of movement in the broader context of Africa’s integration, by easing the need for a visa or reducing the administrative overheads in obtaining a visa.
Liberal visa policies allow businesspeople to move freely across Africa, resulting in higher levels of investment, skills mobility, expansion of the range of goods and services on offer, and contributing to the overall economic activity and prospects for growth.
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