Kenya will forgo over Sh5 billion annually after President William Ruto announced that any visitor can get a visa on arrival in Kenya starting January.
Projections given by the National Treasury show that the government was expected to rake in Sh5.67 billion from immigration visas and other consular fees in the current financial year ending in June 2024.
This was then expected to rise to Sh5.7 billion in the next 2024/2025 financial year before slowing down to Sh4.9 billion in the subsequent year.
However, this is expected to change after President Ruto said that starting next month, Kenya would be a visa-free country, hoisting the country’s hospitality, which he said is carved in its history as the cradle of humanity.
“In short, we are the first home of all humanity, and we joyfully embrace our ancestral task of welcoming humanity home,” said Dr Ruto in a Jamhuri Day celebration that was ironically not attended by any Head of State from outside.
“Kenya is the home of humanity, a scientific fact that fills us with pride and underscores our rich heritage. It is with great pleasure, as President of this extraordinary country, to make a historic announcement of the decision of the Government of Kenya. Beginning January 2024, Kenya will be a visa-free country,” said President Ruto.
Kenya requires visas from nationals of 34 countries while citizens of 19 nations on the continent are welcomed visa-free. It has no visa-on-arrival arrangement with any African country, according to data captured between July and August this year.
His announcement comes at a time when the Ministry of Interior and Immigration had proposed higher visa fees as the cash-strapped government sought to have State corporations supplement disbursements from the Exchequer with non-cash revenue from fees and fines.
The number of visitor arrivals for both leisure and business tourism has been increasing as the country climbed out of the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic which disrupted travel.
Official data from the Directorate of Immigration Services show that visitor arrivals in Kenya, excluding those in transit, increased 77.9 percent to 1,465,175 in 2022, up from 823,312 in the previous year.
The number of visitors, however, is yet to hit the pre-pandemic levels of 1,862,572, developments that have hurt the country’s tourism sector which is also a major foreign exchange earner for the country.
Most of the visitors come by air, either for holiday or business.
Dr Ruto is hoping that the waiver of Visa will attract more visitors to the country and help replenish its stockpile of foreign currencies which have been dwindling due to, among other factors, the strengthening of the Dollar due to a hike in interest rates by the rich countries.
Dr Samuel Nyandemo, an Economics lecturer at the University of Nairobi, described the move as populist as it did not take into account the need for reciprocation as well as the threat of terrorism.
“I don’t think that is a good move. If you waive visas you will allow any Tom, Dick, and Harry to come into our country. And you Kenya is a region that is prone to terrorism attacks,” said Nyandemo, noting that while it may boost tourism, other countries might not reciprocate the gesture.
The President said the move was aimed at fast-tracking the application process for entering Kenya by removing the burden of applying for a Visa.
The security threats, the President suggested, might be addressed through an innovation. “To implement this new policy, we have developed a digital platform to ensure that all travellers to Kenya are identified in advance on an electronic platform. All travellers will obtain electronic travel authorization,” said Ruto.
A visa is an official document that allows the bearer to legally enter a foreign country. Some countries allow visitors to get a visa on arrival.
President Ruto told an audience in Congo-Brazzaville last year that his Government would allow all Africans to visit the country Visa-free starting this year.
"When people cannot travel, businesspeople cannot travel, entrepreneurs cannot travel, we all become net losers.
Let me say this: As Kenya, by the end of this year, no African will be required to have a visa to come to Kenya," he said to loud cheers from the conference delegates.
