Budget Lodgers by Samuel Okocha

Public Project

Budget Lodgers

Copyright Samuel Okocha 2025

Date of Work Aug 2019 - Ongoing

Updated Sep 2019

Topics Travel

African countries, on the average, are becoming more open to each other, according to an Africa Visa Openness Index Report published by the African Development Bank and the Africa Union Commission. That increasing openness allowed Tola Awode, a Nigerian hotelier, to visit Rwanda in 2018. Today, he runs a hotel business catering for low budget travelers.

Shot in Rwanda, this photo essay looks at how low cost budget accommodation contributes in enabling everyday Africans to travel within the continent for business and leisure. And how it fits into the narrative of fostering easy movement within Africa.

As the continent seeks to improve regional integration with the launch of initiatives such as the African Continental Free Trade Area and the Single African Air Transport Market, affordable accommodation will form part of the mix needed for easier and less expensive travel within Africa.

The photo essay features portraits of travelers from three different African countries.

(My project at the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop 2019 in Kigali, Rwanda, hosted by the VII Academy in partnership with Photowings)

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Samuel Okocha

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