Member states: Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Visa Openness within COMESA
COMESA is the second largest REC with 21 Member States. Its 2025 average score (0.504) is slightly higher than 2024 (0.501). Notwithstanding the relatively small net increase, closer analysis reveals significant momentum towards visa openness by several of its Member States. While Seychelles’ ETA lowers the regional average, over 100 travel scenarios involving other COMESA countries have resulted in a significant number of individual ranking increases. Two countries stand out for jumping in ranking: Kenya and Eritrea, now in 3rd and 11th place respectively, due to Kenya’s ETA waiver and Eritrea’s switch from visa-required to visa-on-arrival.
Reciprocity within COMESA
COMESA lags on intra-regional reciprocal visa openness and of all the RECs, scores the lowest in this metric. Visa-free reciprocity remains unchanged from 2024 (17%) and is lower than in 2023 (20%). Visa-free reciprocity also remains at lower levels than the alignment score pertaining to visa-required policies (22%). In other words, within COMESA, visa-required consistency exceeds common approaches to visa-free policies. And in 47% of all intra-regional travel scenarios, countries’ visa policies remain non-aligned, such as when one COMESA country grants visa-free access - for example, Kenya towards citizens of Egypt, whilst Egypt still requires citizens of Kenya to obtain a visa ahead of travel. Or Zimbabwe, which requires a visa ahead of travel from citizens of Djibouti, despite offering visa-on-arrival facilities to many other COMESA citizens, while Djibouti offers Zimbabweans a visa on arrival.
While COMESA’s Protocol on the Free Movement of Persons, Labour, Services, the Right of Establishment and Residence - adopted in 1998 - aims to substantially expand movement of persons within the region, many countries have yet to ratify the treaty. A Protocol on the Gradual Relaxation and Eventual Elimination of Visa Requirements, adopted in 1984, acknowledges that smaller groups of Member States can maintain more liberal visa policies amongst themselves and encourages this, as it serves as a potential stepping stone towards broader or region-wide approaches to a more open visa regime.1 Late in 2024, the then incoming COMESA Chair, the President of Burundi, is reported to have announced that the country will provide visa-free access to the remaining COMESA Member States.2 This policy was not yet reflected in the IATA database during the AVOI data collection period (July-August 2025), which still shows visa-on-arrival applicable to most COMESA citizens.