LAGOS, Nigeria. (Voice Of Naija) President Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno announced that Chad will scrap entry visas for all African nationals from January 1, 2027, as the government seeks to deepen regional integration and stimulate economic exchanges across the continent.
Déby announced on Wednesday at the opening of the African Water Forum in N’Djamena, an event organised in partnership with the World Bank. “Chad, the land of Toumaï, the cradle of humanity, opens its borders and abolishes entry visas for all Africans from Jan. 1, 2027,” the president said, according to Ecofin Agency.
He added that the measure would support “African integration and the free movement of goods and people,” positioning Chad as a strategic link connecting Central, West, East and North Africa.
The government has not yet detailed the practical implementation of the reform, including the maximum permitted length of stay, any pre-arrival requirements, or the border control procedures that will accompany the policy change once it takes effect. Officials are expected to release further guidance closer to the implementation date, a pattern several other African countries have followed after making similar pledges.
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Currently, Chad’s visa policy remains relatively restrictive by regional standards. Under existing rules, nationals of only around 15 to 17 African countries — including Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Côte d’Ivoire and Mali — can enter Chad without a visa for short stays.
Nigerian citizens, along with most other African nationals, currently require a visa or e-visa to enter the country, meaning the 2027 reform would represent a significant expansion of access.
As a landlocked nation bordered by Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Sudan and Libya, Chad expects the visa-free policy to ease business travel, diplomatic missions, tourism and cross-border trade with its neighbours.
According to Chad’s National Institute of Statistics, Economic and Demographic Studies (INSEED), the country’s intra-African trade — conducted mainly with Cameroon, Nigeria and Libya — reached 312.5 billion CFA francs ($546.1 million) in 2025. Government officials say easing entry restrictions is intended to build on that trade base and attract greater business and investment activity from across the continent.
Tourism is also a central motivation behind the reform. The sector currently contributes less than 0.5 percent of Chad’s gross domestic product, but authorities are aiming to raise that share to 3 percent by 2030 under the country’s national development plan, Chad Connexion 2030, according to Ecofin Agency.
Chad has historically struggled to develop a tourism industry despite notable natural and archaeological attractions, including Zakouma National Park and the site that yielded the “Toumaï” fossil, among the oldest known hominid remains, discovered in the country in 2001 and referenced directly in Déby’s announcement.
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With this announcement, Chad joins a small but growing group of African nations that have adopted or pledged visa-free entry for all African citizens. Rwanda, Benin, The Gambia, Seychelles, Ghana, Kenya and the Republic of the Congo have already implemented or committed to similar policies, while Togo abolished its visa requirement for Africans on May 18, 2026. The Republic of Congo has separately pledged to implement its own visa-free policy by the same January 1, 2027 deadline set by Chad, suggesting a degree of regional coordination behind the timing of these reforms.
The trend reflects a broader continental push under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which seeks to boost intra-African commerce by easing the movement of people, goods and services across borders that have historically required cumbersome visa processes even between neighbouring states. Proponents argue that visa-free travel is a prerequisite for AfCFTA to reach its full potential, since restrictive entry requirements have long been cited as one of the biggest obstacles to expanding trade and business travel within the continent.
The African Union has separately encouraged member states to move toward visa-free access as part of its long-term Agenda 2063 integration goals, though implementation across the continent’s 54 countries has remained uneven, with many nations continuing to impose stricter entry requirements on fellow Africans than on visitors from Europe, Asia or North America.
For Nigeria, one of Chad’s key trading partners under the current intra-African trade figures, the policy shift could ease travel for business owners, traders and diplomats operating along the two countries’ shared border region in the Lake Chad Basin, an area already tied together by informal cross-border commerce and shared security concerns linked to Boko Haram insurgency activity.
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Nigeria itself has moved to ease entry requirements for African travellers in recent years, and the continued expansion of visa-free access across the continent is likely to be closely watched by Nigerian trade officials and the private sector as they assess new opportunities for cross-border commerce ahead of Chad’s 2027 implementation date.
