Youths call for  visa-free Africa

KIGALI/NAIROBI. — Young people in Rwanda are calling upon African leaders to remove visa requirements for Africans travelling to other African countries.

The youths from “Kigali Global Shapers Hub”, an arm of the Global Shapers Community, believe in integration of Africa with a common travel policy that would enable visa-free travel on the continent.

The community, an initiative of the World Economic Forum, is a network of localised hubs developed and led by young people in their respective countries, who are exceptional in their potential, their achievements and their drive to make a contribution to their communities.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Ephraim Rwamwenge, a member of the Kigali Hub, said that they are calling on leaders of African nations to consider offering visa-free entry to fellow Africans from other countries on the continent.

“Our leaders always talk about boosting intra-African trade and promotion of African integration, but they have remained tight-lipped on free movements around Africa for African passport holders.

“We call upon our leaders to allow a visa-free Africa to enable Africans to traverse the continent without any hindrances,” he noted.

The recently released “Africa Visa Openness Report 2016” by the African Development Bank revealed that only 13 countries in Africa offered visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to all Africans.

In 2013, Rwanda opened its borders to African passport holders, thus allowing visitors to get visas on points of entry and removing formalities in visa acquisition from Rwanda’s embassies on the continent.

Officials from Rwanda Directorate of Immigration and Emigration say the move has since increased the number of tourists, especially from countries where Rwanda doesn’t have a consulate.

East African partner countries comprising Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda are rolling out various regional integration initiatives, including the introduction of identity cards as valid travel documents to ease the movement of people across the three countries’ borders.

According to Phillipe Nyirimihigo, another member of Kigali Shapers Hub, a visa-free Africa would be a big boost to African investors.

Rwanda plans to remove visa requirements for African nationals travelling to the country by 2018, as it seeks to entice more investors and tourists from the continent. Seychelles is the only country in Africa that has scrapped visa requirements for all other African countries.

For the past 30 years, Africa has attempted to address free movement, but nothing concrete has materialized. African Union’s target is to abolish visa requirements for Africans in African countries by 2018.

Meanwhile, the African Union (AU) on Sunday decried Africa’s slow pace towards continental integration.

AU Commission Deputy Chairperson Erastus Mwencha told Xinhua in Nairobi that one of the reasons is the fear by some nations that they may lose if Africa becomes a single market.

“So, researchers need to come up with data to show that Africa will gain once the continental free trade area comes into force,” Mwencha said on the sidelines of the African Economic Research Consortium’s (AERC) Biannual Research Workshop.

The five-day event brought over 200 researchers, academics, and policymakers to discuss issues relevant to Africa’s economic development.

“The Africa continent is not prioritising integration as much, yet this is actually our rescue. A fully integrated continent will create a single market of one billion people with an expanding emerging middle class,” Mwencha said.

Mwencha said that the issue of regional integration not going as fast as it should be has a lot to do with the political economy.

He noted that as a result of slow integration, intra-Africa trade stands at around 12 percent of total trade, while other regions are at 50 percent. — Xinhua.

You Might Also Like

Comments

Take our Survey

We value your opinion! Take a moment to complete our survey