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3 African Citizenships You Can Buy From $90K · IMI Podcasts

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: In the last year, Africa has become the cheapest place on earth to buy a second citizenship.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: We're talking about under$100,000.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: IMI tracks every one of these emerging market passports in detail.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: Investment options, market conditions, and program benefits.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: We'll cover what Africa's three programs unlock, what you trade for the low price, and why the$90,000 option might surprise you.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: Plus a new program coming soon to the region that may grab your attention.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: Let's start at the top of the price ladder with Egypt, the most expensive of the three African CBI programs, and also the oldest.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: Egypt has been selling citizenship since 2019.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: We know, not that old, under Parliament Law No.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: 190.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: There are four routes in, each priced differently.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: The cheapest is a non-refundable donation of US$250,000 to the state treasury, payable in instalments over one year.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: You can also buy$300,000 worth of real estate and hold it for five years, or invest$350,000 in an Egyptian company plus a$100,000 donation.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: The most expensive route is a$500,000 deposit with the Central Bank of Egypt for three years, refundable in Egyptian pounds at the future exchange rate, with no interest earned.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Every applicant also pays a$10,000 government fee.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: Current processing runs six to nine months, and children under 21 get citizenship at the same time as the main applicant.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: Interestingly, spouses have to wait another two years.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: So who's actually buying this passport?
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: Not many people, as it turns out.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: Egypt approved just 36 citizenships in all of 2025 under new in-person verification requirements that set it apart from other citizenship by investment programs in the Caribbean and Pacific.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: The program also halted new Syrian applications in December 2024 after damage to Syria's immigration and passport department building in Damascus made due diligence impossible.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: Files submitted before that date are still being processed.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: Perhaps Egypt's biggest quagmire, though, is visa-free access.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: As of January 2026, Egypt sits on the US immigrant visa suspension list along with nine other CBI countries.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: Even though Egyptian nationals didn't and still don't have travel freedom to the US or the Schengen area, the Egyptian passport carries a bit less practical value than it did 18 months ago.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: That makes Egypt the most expensive option on this list.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: Which brings us to the next one.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: Sierra Leone launched its GoForGold program in January 2025, with two routes that are unusual by global citizenship by investment standards.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: The standard fast track route is a$140,000 donation that delivers citizenship in roughly 90 days.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: The heritage naturalization route is cheaper at$100,000 and faster at 60 days.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: The catch is that the heritage track is reserved for applicants of African ancestry.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: You have to prove the genealogical link with a DNA test.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's the only program in the world where a DNA result unlocks a$40,000 discount on the entry price.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: Both routes run under Section 27A of Sierra Leone Citizenship Act, a discretionary framework that gives the President authority to confer citizenship pending formal statutory amendments.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: The program was architected by IMI Professional and Investment Migration Veteran Stephen Barnes, and every approved applicant gets a fully incorporated Sierra Leone company and a corporate bank account activated on the letter of approval.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: The dependence structure has no parallel anywhere else in the global CBI market.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: Baseline dependents, meaning a spouse, children under 18, parents and grandparents cost$10,000 each.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: A special dependence category covers multiple spouses, siblings under$30 and their spouses, and adult children at$20,000 each, breaking from precedented industry practices.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: There's even a business partner option, the less you add an unrelated business associate to your application for$30,000, though the partner can't then bring their own dependents on board.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: The real prize here is regional mobility.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: Sierra Leone is a member of ECOWAS, the economic community of West African States.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: As a Sierra Leonean citizen, you can move, settle, and work across all 15 ECOAS member states without a visa.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: The passport itself opens 66 destinations, visa-free, concentrated mostly in Africa and Asia.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: Like Egypt, Sierra Leone is also on the US immigrant visa restriction list as of January 2026.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: Now, buying citizenship is just one of several ways to get a passport, Sierra Leone and beyond.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: Descent, marriage, naturalization, birth, and a handful of rare routes all apply, and the right combination depends entirely on your situation.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: The IMI Citizenship Catalogue inside IMI Sovereigns is the only tool in the world that maps seven different paths to citizenship across all 196 countries.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: If you're working out which one actually fits you, it's worth a look.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: Use code SOV10 for 10% off your first month in the private community.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's go to the cheapest CBI program on the planet.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: Sao Tomei and Principay, the small island nation off the west coast of Africa, launched its CBI program in late 2025.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: The headline price is$90,000 plus a$5,000 non-refundable submission fee.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: That makes Sao Tome the world's cheapest citizenship by investment and the first new program in three decades to price under$100,000.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: The family math is the more surprising part.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: A family of two to four pays just$95,000 in total.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: Each additional dependent costs$5,000.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: That's the most aggressive family pricing on the market by a wide margin.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: The program was designed over an 18-month period by Swiss firm Passport Legacy, led by IMI Pro Jeffrey Hensler, who IMI also named 2025 Person of the Year.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: The Citizenship Investment Unit runs as a unique public-private partnership headquartered in Dubai.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: Realistic processing runs two to two and a half months from a complete submission against a marketed six-week target.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: Eligible dependents include spouses, unmarried children up to age 30 who are still financially dependent, and parents over 55.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: The program accepts applicants from all nationalities, except North Koreans.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: That includes Russians, Iranians, and stateless individuals.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: The Soutame Passport opens 61 destinations visa-free or visa on arrival, including South Africa, Hong Kong, Singapore, the UAE, and Qatar.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: The European Union and the United Kingdom both require a visa.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: But the real strategic value sits somewhere else.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: Sao Tomei is a member of the Community of Portuguese language countries, or CPLP, which opens preferential mobility and residency channels within Portugal and Brazil.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: How does this work in practice?
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: Well, when Portugal extends its naturalization timeline to ten years for foreign nationals, CPLP nationals were given a fast track of just seven years, almost the same timeline as prior to the new nationality law.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: Two operational frictions are worth knowing.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: In April 2026, the Citizenship Investment Unit issued a memorandum placing a hold on new applications from people holding three or more foreign nationalities, citing language in the underlying nationality law that Parliament has not yet amended.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: The same memorandum froze passport issuance for adult dependents, pending a revised dependency framework.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: Both expose the gap between the program's operational ambitions and its underlying legislation.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: They will likely be fixed, but for now they could be constraints for global investors.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: So Sautume holds the title of World's Cheapest CBI program for now, but the lower end of the market will likely get more competition soon.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: Botswana is the next entrant in the pipeline, and the most concrete one yet.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: Aden Capital signed an exclusive memorandum of understanding with the Botswanan government at the UN General Assembly in September 2025, with a Q1 2026 launch target.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: That window is now passed.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: The required dual citizenship amendment to Botswana Citizenship Act is still pending in Parliament, and the official portal continues to indicate early 2026.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: When the program does launch, the headline contribution is expected to land somewhere between$75,000 and$90,000, varying by family size.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: Single applicants are projected to clear under$100,000 all in.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: Families will likely land between$100,000 and$120,000.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: If Botswana launches at the$75,000 floor, it will undercut Sao Tomei and become the world's cheapest CBI program.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: The pre-registration portal had logged over 600 expressions of interest by November 2025, with the first 464 registrations spanning 77 countries.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: And perhaps the kicker here, the Botswana passport itself is no slouch.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: It currently opens roughly 80 destinations visa-free, placing it among the four strongest African passports.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: So the price floor on a second passport is now in Africa.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: And depending on how the next few months play out, it could fall further.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: But the emerging markets don't end with passport pricing.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: Some of the boldest moves in this space right now are happening on tax, not just residency and citizenship.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: Turkey just unveiled a 20-year tax holiday on foreign income that, for the right kind of investor, could outclass what Dubai has been marketing.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: The full mechanics are in the video on your screen now.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: Subscribe if you haven't already, and we'll see you in the next one.