Pakistan scraps free VPA visas for 34 African international locations as journey prices and limitations rise

From January 1, 2026, African nationals who beforehand loved a fast-tracked, zero-fee 90-day multiple-entry visa should now apply by means of Pakistan’s customary paid e-Visa system, a shift that provides new monetary and bureaucratic hurdles for businesspeople, vacationers and college students throughout the continent.

The suspension of Pakistan’s “Visa Prior to Arrival” (VPA) program impacts a complete of 126 international locations and territories that had beforehand benefited from a free, fast-tracked visa till the tip of 2025.

The affected African international locations are Algeria, Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, a bunch that collectively represents a big share of Africa’s rising outbound journey and commerce markets.

According to VisaInformation, Pakistan has eliminated the VPA choice from its official visa portal, redirecting candidates to the usual e-Visa system with greater charges and stricter necessities.

Travellers from affected African international locations should now pay for the standard e-Visa, with charges various by nationality – USD 35 for EU residents and USD 60 for US, Canadian, and UK nationals.

For many Africans, this implies submitting financial institution statements, invitation letters and longer processing occasions, successfully reversing one among Pakistan’s most Africa-friendly journey insurance policies lately.

In latest years, simpler visa regimes had supported rising journey for commerce missions, medical tourism, training, and spiritual visits, whereas serving to Pakistani exporters faucet into fast-growing African markets for textiles, prescribed drugs, rice, and manufactured items.

As of 2023, Pakistan was Kenya’s greatest export market. In the primary eight months, Kenya exported items value Ksh48.28 billion ($321.4 million) to Pakistan, up 19% from Ksh40.47 billion ($269.4 million) in the identical interval in 2022.

By comparability, exports to the Netherlands and the US have been Ksh43.94 billion ($292.5 million) and Ksh42.89 billion ($285.6 million), respectively.

Africa, with its increasing client base and strategic ports, has been an more and more essential commerce frontier for Pakistan, whereas Pakistan serves as a cost-competitive hub for items, providers, and transit for African merchants.

The tightening of visa entry now raises prices and friction for vacationers on each side, probably slowing people-to-people exchanges that underpin broader financial cooperation between the 2 areas.

The timing of Pakistan’s resolution is awkward for Africa. In latest years, African governments have pushed for better mobility by means of initiatives such because the African Continental Free Trade Area and the African Union’s visa-free and visa-on-arrival agenda, aimed toward easing motion for commerce, funding and tourism.

Pakistan’s free VPA scheme had aligned with that momentum, giving African entrepreneurs, college students and vacationers comparatively quick access to South Asia. Its removing now dangers slowing people-to-people exchanges simply as commerce and diplomatic ties have been increasing.

Business hubs similar to Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and South Africa have seen rising business and academic hyperlinks with Pakistan, whereas tourism operators in Mauritius, Seychelles and Morocco warn greater prices might dampen leisure journey.

Traders from Ethiopia, Tanzania and Zambia sourcing textiles and client items from South Asia additionally face greater entry limitations.

Until Islamabad clarifies whether or not the transfer is short-term or everlasting, African travellers should navigate a costlier and fewer predictable system which additional highlights how fragile international mobility stays for a lot of the continent regardless of deeper financial ties.