Ghana and Zambia have agreed to implement visa-free travel for citizens of both countries in a landmark deal as Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama visits Lusaka, where he was received by President Hakainde Hichilema.

Mahama’s three-day state visit to Zambia is aimed at deepening diplomatic ties, boosting economic cooperation, and strengthening people-to-people relations.

The scrapping of visas for citizens of both countries was one of the key priorities.

This is the first-ever such arrangement between Zambia, a country in Southern Africa, and Ghana, which is in West Africa.

Ghana is one of five African countries that have offered visa-free entry to all Africans.

Ghana’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, told a public gathering in Lusaka at the start of the visit on Wednesday that Zambian officials had initially raised concern before the last-minute deal was reached.

“I’m told that it was because we have three kinds of passports, they (Zambia) have only two, diplomatic and then ordinary passports, so they didn’t see how, they say we are not aligned because we have diplomatic, service and ordinary passports,” he said.

“But we told them there’s a presidential directive. If you want our president to be here and you want his wishes to be granted, then you have to make sure that we reach this deal. And at 11:30 PM last night, they reached out to their president and he said, ‘If it’s my brother’s wish, I’m going to grant you.’ So, we have the visa waiver agreement.”

The lifting of visa rules is expected to ease travel and open new opportunities in trade, tourism, investment, education and cultural exchange.

It’s not yet clear when the free movement between Ghana and Zambia will start. With the latest deal, Ghana now has a bilateral visa-free arrangement with 15 African countries since the return of President John Mahama to the presidency in January 2025.

The other countries where Africans don’t require a visa to enter are Rwanda, Seychelles, The Gambia, and Benin.

This comes as governments move to ease travel and free trade across the continent, aimed at boosting socio-economic integration in recent years, although progress has been slow.