Africa Is Selling Passports… Here’s the Catch…

Africa is selling passports… but if the term caveat emptor ever applied to anything, it applies to this.

In the last 24 months, three African nations—São Tomé and Príncipe, Botswana, and Sierra Leone—have announced new citizenship-by-investment (CBI) programs. They join Egypt, which has had a program since 2019.

Why Africa Is Suddenly Selling Passports

There is no mystery behind the timing. The real purveyors of CBI—top-tier migration agencies such as Henley & Partners and Arton Capital—are facing potential market disruption in their classic Caribbean programs. The European Union says that starting next year, countries that sell passports will lose visa-free access to the region, undercutting one of the main selling points of Caribbean CBI. To keep customers coming, investment migration firms need new products. African countries in search of foreign exchange and investment are now stepping up.

The main attraction of the new generation of African CBI is cost. São Tomé and Príncipe offers citizenship for a family of four at only $95,000. Sierra Leone’s is available at $140,000. Botswana’s program, which has not yet been launched, is targeting between $75,000 and $90,000.

For the traditional CBI customer, usually businesspeople from China, Russia, or the Middle East, this is pocket change. The problem is that African countries cannot offer the same product as the older Caribbean programs. Whereas a Caribbean passport comes with visa-free access to the European Union, African passports do not.

A Cheap Passport Is One Thing. A Safe Haven Is Another

That gives a second clue to the timing of these new offerings. The global market for second citizenship in passports is changing. Since the 1980s, CBI has primarily targeted people from countries with weak passports who want to travel without the sort of scrutiny that visa applications entail. The last five years, on the other hand, have seen huge growth in the number of Americans looking for a Plan B passport… a place to go and stay in an emergency, regardless of broader visa-free access.

Given this, the question confronting anyone interested in an African passport is whether these countries would be suitable in a Plan B situation.

Of These Three Countries, Only One Gets My Vote

I’ll lay my cards out here: I like Botswana’s offering, because I like Botswana. It’s a peaceful, well-governed country with friendly people, low crime, and a classic African safari vibe. If the idea of living in a safe, well-maintained golf estate or smallholding under azure-blue Southern African skies appeals to you, it’ll be a great opportunity to consider when the program is launched.

Botswana would be my choice for African citizenship by investment.

Not so much São Tomé and Príncipe and Sierra Leone. The former, although peaceful, is a poor nation with weak infrastructure, limited state resources, and periodic political instability. The lingua franca is Portuguese; English is rare. Although English speaking, Sierra Leone is unstable, with periodic outbreaks of political violence and constant low-level civil war. Neither country has much of a healthcare system.

Having said that, there are opportunities for a reasonably comfortable tropical lifestyle. (Both West African countries have hot and humid climates with no winter to speak of.) In the few cities and large towns, one can find furnished apartments with sea views, detached villas in enclosed compounds, modern duplexes with air conditioning, and even expat-focused properties with pools, security, and backup utilities. A recent listing in Campo de Milho on the island of São Tomé, for example, advertises a 400-square-meter (4,300-square-foot) home with five bedrooms, four bathrooms, a large plot, and a generator and water storage for under $2,000 a month. 

From such a base, you might encounter a few expats, mainly from the international development community and multinational companies. A few thousand Portuguese citizens live in São Tomé and Príncipe, which was a Portuguese colony until 1974. By contrast, very few long-term expats live in Sierra Leone. Botswana has a reasonable expat population, primarily associated with the mining industry, but increasingly South African and Zimbabwean expats looking for a second home.

The Bigger Opportunity Is Still Coming

Ultimately, however, these new African CBI offerings are more important for the trend they represent than as practical destinations for most of us. Africa is the fastest growing continent. Its consumer market is growing by 10% per annum. Geopolitical tensions highlight the importance of African mineral and agricultural wealth. Investment is pouring into the continent.

That’s why it’s best to see these new offerings as the vanguard of a much larger range of residency options in Africa over the next few years. Twelve African nations already offer residency in exchange for investment or passive income. Most of these countries are located on Africa’s Indian Ocean littoral, fast becoming an important part of trade and economic networks stretching to South and East Asia. And for anyone looking for an alternative tropical beach lifestyle, the African east coast is hard to beat.

Africa’s emerging citizenship market offers another nationality at a relatively low price—but a second passport is not necessarily a workable second home. If and when Botswana launches its new CBI program, I’d recommend it wholeheartedly.

As for the rest… I’ll be keeping an eye on the African residency market for you, and as soon as more viable opportunities emerge, you’ll hear about it from me.