Duty free allowance cigars in Africa
Recently we got confronted with the wild range of different rules and regulations for cigars while traveling internationally. Most countries in the world have an allowance to bring in cigars for personal consumption. It ranges from no allowance at all, to a no limit as long as the boxes are open and it’s for personal consumption. Some countries measure by numbers, others by weight, some in grams in the metric system, others by pounds in the imperial system.
Now even though there are limits to the duty-free allowance, it doesn’t mean you can’t bring in cigars at all. Just declare them, and after paying tax, you can bring in the cigars anyway. Our advice is to play by the rules. Don’t be a dumbass and risk a fine, or even be arrested and trialed for smuggling. It’s not worth your time, or your reputation.
In a series of articles, we dive into the allowances per country, categorized by continent. We started with Europe, then we went to Asia, today we dive into the regulations of Africa
Africa goes all the way from reasonable quantities to no limit as long as the boxes are open and for personal use. Then there are countries that have set a limit in weight, a limit in cigars and there’s even a country that gives our sisters of the leaf a hard time.
And then there is the difference between cigars and cigarillos. Some countries specify that on their duty-free regulations. Small cigars that weigh less than 3 grams each are considered cigarillos.
Now note: all these numbers are the allowance when you bring in cigars personally. The rules and regulations on postal shipments are different.
Algeria
Algeria has an allowance of 50 cigars.
Angola
Angola as a duty-free limit of 500 grams of cigars or cigarillos.
Benin
Benin allows you to bring in 25 cigars or 100 cigarillos duty-free.
Botswana
Botswana has a duty free allowance of 20 cigars.
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso has a duty free allowance of 25 cigars or 100 cigarillos.
Burundi
Burundi has a duty free allowance of 250 grams of tobacco.
Cabo Verde
Cabo Verde has a duty free allowance of 50 cigars.
Cameroon
Cameroon has a duty free allowance of 50 cigars.
Central African Republic
CAR Central African Republic has a duty free allowance of 250 cigars.
Chad
Chad has a duty free allowance of 125 cigars or 400 cigarillos
Comoro Islands
The Comoro Islands have a duty free allowance of 100 cigars.
Congo
Congo has a duty free allowance of 1box cigars. But there’s an extra rule, bad news for the female cigar smokers. Only men are allowed to bring in duty-free cigars. Congo is the only country in the world with this sexist regulation.
Cote d’Ivoire
Cote d’Ivoire has a duty free allowance of 25 cigars.
Democratic Republic of Congo
DRC has a duty free allowance of 50 cigars.
Djibouti
Djibouti has a duty free allowance of 50 cigars.
Egypt
Egypt has a duty free allowance of 25 cigars.
Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea has a duty free allowance of 50 cigars.
Eritrea
Eritrea has a duty free allowance of 50 cigars.
Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland)
Eswatini has a duty free allowance of 20 cigars.
Ethiopia
Ethiopia has a duty free allowance of 250 grams of tobacco.
Gabon
Gabon has a duty free allowance of 125 cigars or 400 cigarillos.
Gambia
Gamba has a duty free allowance of 50 cigars.
Ghana
Ghana has a duty free allowance of 50 cigars or 100 cigarillos.
Guinea
Guinea has a duty free allowance of 250 cigars.
Guinea Bissau
Guinea Bissau duty-free law says “reasonable quantities”. Now what’s reasonable for you, might not be reasonable for the local customs officer, so don’t overdo it.
Kenya
Kenya has a duty free allowance of 50 cigars.
Lesotho
Lesotho has an allowance of 20 cigars to be brought in duty unpaid.
Liberia
Liberia allows visitors to bring in 25 duty-free.
Libya
Libya has a duty free allowance of 400 grams of cigars.
Madagascar
Madagascar allows 25 cigars duty-free.
Malawi
Malawi has a duty free allowance of 250 grams of cigars.
Mali
Mali has a duty free allowance of 250 cigars.
Mauritania
Mauritania has a duty free allowance of 25 cigars.
Mauritius
The duty-free allowance for cigars in Mauritius is 250 grams of cigars.
Mayotte
Mayotte is a French territory and allows the same amount of duty-free tobacco as France, 50 cigars or 100 cigarillos. The EU allowance is not applicable.
Morocco
Morocco allows 50 cigars or 200 cigarillos to be brought in duty-free.
Mozambique
Mozambique has a duty free allowance of 250 grams cigars.
Namibia
Namibia has a duty free allowance of 50 cigars
Niger
Niger allows you to bring in 25 cigars or 100 cigarillos duty-free.
Nigeria
Nigeria has an allowance of 50 cigars.
Reunion
Reunion is a French territory and allows the same amount of duty-free tobacco as France, 50 cigars or 100 cigarillos. The EU allowance is not applicable.
Rwanda
Rwanda has a duty free allowance of 250 grams of cigars or cigarillos.
Sao Tome & Principe
Sao Tome & Principe is one of the countries with a ‘reasonable quantities’ policy. Now what a reasonable quantity is, is in the eyes of the beholder. Our advice, don’t bring too much, be modest.
Senegal
Visitors are allowed to bring in up to 50 cigars duty-free.
Seychelles
The duty-free allowance is 250 grams of cigars.
Sierra Leone
The duty-free allowance for Siera Leone is 250 grams of cigars or cigarillos.
Somalia
Somalia has a duty free allowance of 40 cigars.
South Africa
South Africa has a duty free allowance of 20 cigars.
South Sudan
South Sudan is the only country in Africa without an allowance on cigars or cigarillos.
Sudan
The duty-free allowance is 50 cigars.
Tanzania
The duty-free allowance for Tanzania is 50 cigars.
Togo
Togo has a duty free allowance of 50 cigars or 100 cigarillos.
Tunisia
Tunisia has an allowance of 50 cigars.
Uganda
Visitors are allowed to bring in up to 250 grams of cigars or cigarillos duty-free.
Western Sahara
This region, formerly Spain, now annexed by Morocco but still an independent region. Since the independence there has been constant turmoil over either being an own independent state or joining Morocco there are no clear duty allowance rules yet. But traveling to Western Sahara is being discouraged by almost any government in the world anyway so does it really matter? For the record, we put it under ‘unknown’.
Zambia
The duty-free allowance is 500 grams of cigars.
Zimbabwe
The duty-free allowance for Zimbabwe is unlimited. The only limitations that apply are that the packages have to be open and that the cigars are for personal use.
Next week we explore the duty-free allowance in Oceania.
