Kenya is spending Sh720 million annually to support a system introduced to vet international visitors from their home countries, new disclosures show, highlighting the burden in the State’s strategy to grow inbound traveller numbers.
Budget documents indicate that the government plans to spend up to Sh20 billion over 14 years to support the implementation of the electronic travel authorisation (eTA), a system that screens international visitors before they travel to Kenya. The visa-free policy was announced in 2024 and took effect at the start of 2025.
The eTA replaced visa requirements, allowing visitors to apply for entry clearance before leaving their home countries, a move aimed at easing clearance processes at airports.
Last year, the Cabinet approved a decision exempting nearly all African countries from the eTA requirements to boost tourist arrivals.
“As part of efforts to support open skies policies and tourism growth, a key proposal is to grant eTA exemptions to all African countries— except Somalia and Libya—due to security concerns,” the Cabinet said in January 2025.
Consultants and system fees
However, new disclosures show that about 80 percent of the eTA implementation budget will go to consultants and fees, with the system itself costing Sh1 billion.
The government began implementing the system in July last year and plans to spend Sh720 million in the first year, with similar allocations set aside for the subsequent three fiscal years.
Kenya says the eTA has strengthened pre-screening of travellers compared to the previous eVisa system, which was not integrated with other border management platforms, limiting data collection and lacking fraud detection and risk management capabilities.
“Increasing traveller numbers and evolving border challenges require a robust system to pre-screen travellers, prevent entry of prohibited persons, and enhance compliance with migration policies,” the Directorate of Immigration Services said in a presentation explaining the rationale for introducing the eTA.
The directorate says it obtained all the necessary approvals from relevant government agencies to roll out the system.
The eTA provides secure and timely processing of travel authorisations, with the aim of boosting tourism and business travel while strengthening national security through early risk assessment and digital clearance.
Its functions include pre-screening, automated background checks and traveller risk profiling.
In the 2026/27 budget documents submitted to the Treasury for review, the Directorate of Immigration Services says the entire project entails “procurement of consultancy services and outsourcing the services for system maintenance and operations to pre-screen travellers before arrival for risk mitigation, reduce immigration processing time at entry points, improve data collection and interoperability with security systems, increase transparency and reduce fraudulent entries.”
Consultancy services account for the largest share of the project’s cost, with Sh18 billion of the estimated Sh20 billion budget allocated to consultancy and fees.
The documents show that the eTA equipment itself will cost Sh1 billion, with another Sh1 billion set aside for “other” expenses.
Annual allocations of Sh720 million have been earmarked for the project from the 2025/26 to the 2028/29 financial years.
Since replacing visa requirements with the eTA in 2024, Kenya has recorded growth in inbound traveller numbers, driven largely by the decision to exempt 52 African countries from the system.
Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows that in the nine months to September 2025, non-Kenyan arrivals through Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and Moi International Airport rose from 1.27 million in the same period a year earlier.
The increase followed Kenya’s move to adopt a visa-free policy for all visitors from the start of 2025, aimed at boosting tourism and foreign earnings.
