Congo Plans to Grant Visa-Free Access to All African Nationals

The Republic of the Congo has announced plans to grant visa-free access to all African nationals from January 2027, in a move aimed at deepening regional integration and improving free movement across the continent.

The announcement was made on Monday during the African Development Bank Group Annual Meetings 2026 in Brazzaville by Denis Sassou Nguesso, President of the Republic of the Congo, as African leaders gathered to commemorate Africa Day.

The development comes seven days after the government of Togo announced the removal of entry visa requirements for all African citizens holding valid national passports, as part of efforts to strengthen continental integration and ease movement within Africa.

African leaders attending the African Development Bank Group’s 2026 Annual Meetings in Brazzaville on Monday marked Africa Day with the host president announcing that the Republic of the Congo would waive visa requirements for all African nationals beginning next year.

• “As from the first of January 2027, nationals of all African countries will have visa-free access and will no longer need a visa to come to Congo,” Sassou-Nguesso said, while urging African countries to move beyond “selfishness and nationalism” and accelerate regional integration through practical implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area.

The Africa Day commemoration brought together African heads of state and government, ministers, diplomats, investors, development partners, civil society representatives, youth leaders, and private-sector stakeholders, all united around Africa’s regional integration and transformation agenda.

Observed annually on May 25, Africa Day commemorates the founding of the Organisation of African Unity in Addis Ababa in 1963, which later evolved into the African Union.

• This year’s celebration aligns with the African Union’s 2026 theme, “Assuring Sustainable Water Availability and Safe Sanitation Systems to Achieve the Goals of Agenda 2063,” with leaders using the occasion to call for stronger regional cooperation and increased investment in critical infrastructure across the continent.

Sassou-Nguesso stressed that no African country could independently finance the scale of infrastructure required to transform the continent, highlighting the importance of collective investments in roads, railways, ports, airports, and energy systems.

President of the African Development Bank Group, Sidi Ould Tah, also called for deeper continental integration, stronger African institutions, and renewed confidence in Africa’s ability to shape its own future amid growing global uncertainty.

The latest announcement signals what appears to be a renewed continental push toward improving free movement across Africa through visa-free travel policies.

On May 18, the government of Togo announced that African citizens holding valid national passports would no longer require entry visas to visit the country.

• While the policy removes visa requirements for African travellers, Togolese authorities clarified that the exemption only applies to visits lasting up to 30 days, with travellers still expected to comply with existing security, immigration, and public health procedures upon arrival.

Meanwhile, data from the April 2026 edition of the Henley & Partners Passport Index showed that Nigerians currently have access to 44 visa-free destinations globally, down from 46 destinations recorded in January 2025 and 45 in January 2024.

Of the countries Nigerians can currently access without visas, 18 are within Africa, including Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.