An Aerial View travel guide
Do you need to apply before you fly?
A growing number of African countries now ask you to apply for entry permission online before you travel, even without a visa. Miss it and you can be turned away at boarding.
Pick your passport and where you're going to see exactly what you need, with the full list of who gets in visa-free, who gets a visa on arrival and who must apply first.
Needs one
Seychelles
Compulsory for everyone
Needs nothing
Rwanda
No visa for any African passport
Your passport
Where you're going
Choose your passport to see your own answer, or read the rules for every passport below.
Entering Benin
What each African passport needs.
No visa
up to 90 days · 14 countries
Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, Togo
Sources disagree
39 countries
Algeria, Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Djibouti, DR Congo, Egypt
Sources disagree. Benin has said in the past that all Africans could enter visa-free, but a July 2026 list from Benin's foreign ministry names only a few African countries. Check Benin's official e-Visa site before you travel. If you do need a visa, it costs EUR 50 for 30 days and takes up to 4 days.
South Africa, Kenya, Rwanda, Tunisia, Seychelles, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Mauritius, São Tomé and Príncipe: A July 2026 news report said these countries are visa-free because they have signed agreements with Benin. Benin's own website hasn't confirmed this yet.
Official site: evisa.bj. Lists from Visa policy of Benin, checked 2026-11-05. Covers ordinary passports only.
Rules change often
Join Aerial View and we'll tell you when entry rules change, along with new trips and travel guides.
Join Aerial ViewAll 54 countries we cover
- Algeria
- Angola
- Benin
- Botswana
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cabo Verde
- Cameroon
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Comoros
- Congo
- Côte d'Ivoire
- Djibouti
- DR Congo
- Egypt
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Eswatini
- Ethiopia
- Gabon
- Ghana
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Kenya
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Libya
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Mali
- Mauritania
- Mauritius
- Morocco
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Niger
- Nigeria
- Rwanda
- São Tomé and Príncipe
- Senegal
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- Somalia
- South Africa
- South Sudan
- Sudan
- Tanzania
- The Gambia
- Togo
- Tunisia
- Uganda
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
This page is a starting point for planning, not legal or immigration advice. Always confirm with the destination country or your airline before you travel.
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