Akwaaba 2026 Puts Intra-Africa Travel Back in the Spotlight
The 22nd Akwaaba African Travel Market in Lagos celebrated the continent's diverse tourism, culture, and investment potential, drawing stakeholders from across Africa and beyond. The event underscored the importance of intra-African travel and showcased initiatives like The Gambia's push for Nigerian engagement and Lagos's cultural economy. It reinforced Africa's growing capacity to market its unique offerings globally.
For three days this week, Lagos has become a meeting point for people trying to answer a problem African tourism has struggled with for years: how do Africans get more Africans travelling across the continent?
The 22nd Akwaaba African Travel Market opened at Eko Hotel and Suites on September 13, bringing together tourism boards, airlines, hotels, tour operators and other industry players from across Africa and beyond. More than 100 African tour operators are taking part in the event, with discussions covering sports tourism, cross-border payments, medical travel and passenger rights.
That makes the event more than a showcase of holiday destinations.
Africa wants its own tourism market
The idea behind Akwaaba has always been fairly straightforward.
Its founder, Ikechi Uko, created the event more than two decades ago to give African tourism businesses a place to market themselves to other Africans and to international visitors.
That goal has become more relevant as tourism operators look beyond the traditional model of waiting for visitors from Europe, North America or Asia.
Uko recently argued that perception, high travel costs and poor connections between African countries still make intra-African travel harder than it should be. He also pointed to the taxes and charges that can make a short trip between neighbouring countries surprisingly expensive.
There is a simple business opportunity buried in that problem.
If more Africans travelled within Africa, the money would move through African airlines, hotels, restaurants, tour companies, transport businesses and attractions.
The Gambia is looking to Nigeria
The Gambia is one of the countries trying to capture more of that market.
At Akwaaba, Tourism Minister Abdoulie Jobe invited more Nigerians to visit the country, while calling for stronger links between Nigerian and Gambian airlines, tour operators, hotels and creative businesses.
The pitch makes sense from both sides.
Nigeria has a large outbound travel market, while The Gambia already has beaches, culture, nightlife and a sizeable tourism industry. Stronger links between the two countries could mean more visitors, more partnerships and more business for operators in both markets.
And Nigeria is not the only market The Gambia can target.
The larger opportunity is to make it easier for Africans to choose another African country when planning a holiday, attending an event or looking for a business opportunity.
Sports could change the game
One of the most interesting conversations at this year's Akwaaba is around sports tourism.
With the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations approaching, tour operators from countries involved in the tournament are looking at how football can generate travel beyond match tickets.
A supporter travelling for a game needs somewhere to sleep, eat and move around. They may also visit attractions, shop and stay for several days.
That turns a football tournament into a tourism opportunity.
Akwaaba's organisers are therefore bringing tourism and sports operators together to discuss how fan travel, training camps and sporting events can translate into bookings and longer stays.
The hard part is still getting there
Africa has plenty of places people want to visit.
The problem is getting between them cheaply and easily.
Air connections remain limited on many routes. Visa rules differ from one country to another. Payments can be difficult across borders. Even when a flight exists, taxes and other charges can make regional travel surprisingly expensive.
These are the less glamorous issues behind the tourism pictures.
They also explain why conversations about cross-border payments, passenger rights and regional cooperation are appearing alongside destination showcases at Akwaaba this year.
Lagos is well placed to host that conversation. The city already has one of West Africa's busiest international airports and a tourism and entertainment industry that draws visitors from across the continent.
But hosting a travel market is the easy part.
The bigger opportunity is turning the connections made inside Eko Hotel into actual flights, hotel bookings, tours, partnerships and jobs after everyone goes home.
That is where Africa's tourism market will really be measured.