🛫 More and more Africans are traveling within Africa - the fastest tourism growth in the world

• Economic growth and rising prosperity in Africa are enabling more and more Africans to travel within their own continent.
• The number of tourists visiting African countries grew by almost 8 percent last year, the fastest growth in the world.
• Several countries have scrapped visa requirements for African passports and new flight routes have been added.

A growing middle class is traveling within the continent

The number of tourists visiting African countries grew by almost 8 percent over the past year. That is the fastest growth in the world, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization. The increase is not driven only by visitors from Europe and Asia. A large share comes from a growing African middle class that is traveling within the continent for the first time. The most visible travelers are millennials and members of Generation Z.

Jillian Blackbeard, chief executive of the organization Africa's Eden, which works to promote African tourism, says that travel is increasingly seen as part of identity and everyday life rather than a luxury. African travelers are starting to view their own continent as worth exploring.

Fewer visa requirements and new flight routes

In the past, the conditions for leisure travel have been difficult. Most Africans still need visas to visit other African countries. Flight prices within Africa are among the highest in the world, and there are few direct flights.

Both of these obstacles have eased in recent years. Demand for air travel within Africa has grown, which allows airlines to create more routes. New airlines have started up. A journey from Accra in Ghana to Johannesburg, which previously went through London or Dubai, can now be made through Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, according to Omoniyi Kolade, chief executive of the payment company SeerBit.

Several countries, including Benin, Gambia, Kenya and Ghana, have scrapped visa requirements for holders of African passports.

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