SA waives visas for Kenyans

Kenyan citizens will be able to enter SA visa-free from the start of next year after an agreement between President Cyril Ramaphosa and newly elected Kenyan counterpart, William Ruto.

The announcement was made in Nairobi on Wednesday during Ramaphosa’s state visit to the country, and is a longawaited reciprocation of a visafree regime that has applied for the past few years to South Africans visiting Kenya.

“On behalf of Kenyans, I express appreciation on the progress that we have made in the long-awaited visa-free regime between Kenya and SA,” Ruto said at a media briefing at State House in Nairobi.

This follows the appointment of a panel on immigration requirements during a state visit to SA by Ruto’s predecessor, Uhuru Kenyatta, a year ago. The visa issue was top of the issues that Kenyans wanted addressed in SA’s relationship with their country.

The latest developments were welcomed by Moffat Andanje, chair of the Kenya-SA Chamber of Business and the MD of Procet Freight.

“It is one of the highlights of the business for us,” he said.

“There is always a downside to say that there will be illegal immigrants, but eventually the benefits are more than the weaknesses.” He said illegal immigrants had never been deterred by visas anyway.

The scrapping of visas has been in the offing at least since former president Jacob Zuma met Kenyatta during his official visit to Kenya in 2016.

“Kenya is just outside Sadc (the Southern African Development Community),” Andanje said, “so it has always been sidelined, although it has a bigger economy than any other Sadc member [outside SA].”

Citizens from Sadc member countries are already allowed to travel to SA visa-free.

TOURISM

The visa-free deal will also help tourism as well as medical tourism, Andanje said. “Middleand upper-class Kenyans might decide to come to SA for a few days break with the family.”

The administration and wait for a visa — up to a week — have previously put Kenyans off travelling to SA, he said.

The visa-free deal will increase business opportunities between the two countries as these opportunities could be more easily discussed during travel. The two presidents also discussed investment and business opportunities.

Ramaphosa said SA’s department of trade, industry & competition had received a list of products from its Kenyan counterpart to approve for export to SA, and these were “being considered by our officials”.

There have also been engagements between Transnet Engineering and the Kenyan Railways Corporation.

Transnet chief business development officer Yolisa Kani said there was a good relationship. “We know our capabilities and history, but we don’t want to come in as a big brother. That doesn’t help. All we are saying [to Kenyan Railways] is that we are an experienced logistics company and this is what we have to offer.”

She said logistics was a big part of the economic growth and trade opportunities envisaged under the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement.