Visa: Remediating African obstacles

Embracing liberal visa policies will not only facilitate seamless travel but also contribute significantly to enhanced trade in goods and services, cross-border investment and shared prosperity, writes, WOLE SHADARE

Visa-free Africa

Lots of commentators/observers (international and local) have argued on the issue of a Visa-free Africa, being the route to Africa’s integration.

Some have said it’s necessary for a liberalised Africa and easy movement of Africans across borders, free movement of goods and services and labour.

Others have argued that Africa is a long way from achieving a Visa-free continent, owing their assertion to issues of terrorism, banditry, dumping, smuggling, spread of diseases and increased crime generally.

Africa is building on the experiences of Europe and some of the sub-regions in Africa, to create one of the largest markets in the world with over 1 billion persons; it’s not a mean feat and certainly isn’t going to come on a platter of gold.

There’ll be a series of lobbying, trade deals, policy alterations, and huge investments in the connectivity of Africa and her Transport system if Africa is to truly integrate.

Benefits of a Visa-Free Travel

The benefits of travelling without a visa abound; first, you don’t have to fill out lengthy application forms, or provide additional documentation such as letters of support from friends and employers, pictures, copies of passports, and bank statements; secondly, you don’t have to wait around for the embassy or relevant body to process the application for your sisa; thirdly, you can travel on a whim without needing to plan days or weeks.

According to the Africa Visa Openness Index; it’s still easier for Americans to travel around Africa, than for an African to travel within Africa. Isn’t it ironical? It’s more like a situation where African leaders were worried more about the implications of Brexit and aren’t committed to the ratification of the AfCFTA.

The African Development Bank, another body championing the Integration of Africa, has noted that the openness of Africa’s borders will encourage free movement of people, goods and services. Thus, helping in the integration of Africans and promotion of Socio-Economic growth. The Bank argues that Tourism, being an important factor for Africa’s Economic growth, contributing 8.5% to her GDP, will benefit immensely from a visa-free policy.

President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, during his 2017 Inauguration lent his voice in support of a Visa-Free Africa when he stated thus: “…for my fellow Africans, the free movement of people on our continent has always been a cornerstone of Pan-African brotherhood and fraternity. Today I am directing that any African wishing to visit Kenya will be eligible to receive a visa at the port of entry. To underscore Kenya’s commitment, this shall not be done based on reciprocity. The freer we are to travel and live with one another, the more integrated and appreciative of our diversity we will become.”

A few years ago, Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote travelled barriers in Africa said he needed 38 visas to travel within the continent on his Nigerian passport. Many European nationals, meanwhile, waltz into most African countries visa-free.

 Intra-Continental prospect

Air transport connectivity to and within Africa is provided by both African and non-African airlines. These carriers are confronted by both intrinsic and extrinsic challenges, which constrain their ability to provide the level of air transport connectivity demanded to fully enable economic growth for the continent.

Would an Africa in which Africans require no visas to travel boost prospects for intra-continental trade and the success of the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM)?

The African Union (AU) and many of the continent’s economic organisations think so and want it to be a reality by 2023. It is not an entirely original concept (the European Union already has a visa-free policy for its citizens), and many experts laud the AU’s position, at least in principle.

The idea of an African passport dates back a quarter of a century but has failed to catch on with countries that fear an increase in smuggling, illegal immigration, terrorism, and the spread of disease as well as a negative impact on local job markets. With migration, legal and illegal, blamed for recent outbreaks of xenophobia in South Africa, some of these fears seem credible.

Aspiration 2 of Agenda 2063 envisions “An integrated continent, politically united and based on the ideals of Pan-Africanism and the vision of Africa’s Renaissance” and Aspiration 5 envisions “An Africa with a strong cultural identity, common heritage, shared values, and ethics,” African passport

To achieve these aspirations of Africans seeing themselves as one people united under the ideals of pan-Africanism, the physical and invisible barriers that have prevented the integration of Africa’s people need to be removed.

Removal of restrictions

The Agenda 2063 flagship project, “The African Passport and Free Movement of People” aims to remove restrictions on Africans’ ability to travel, work and live within their continent.

The initiative aims at transforming Africa’s laws, which remain generally restrictive on the movement of people despite political commitments to bring down borders with the view to promoting the issuance of visas by Member States to enhance the free movement of all African citizens in all African countries.

In 2017, the AU launched an African passport, a signature project of former chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. However, the passport is currently available only to senior diplomats and top officials of AU’s 55 member states.

Of those member states, only Seychelles offers visa-free access to all African countries. “The large and fast-growing economies aren’t following suit because the visa regime itself has created a bureaucratic habit,” noted Daniel Silke, director of South Africa–based Political Futures Consultancy.
“Old habits are hard to break, although there is justification for hesitation in terms of the legitimate layer of security that visas provide.”

Uphill task for SAATM

The SAATM competition regulation requires the revision of visa requirements to enable the free movement of Africans in the continent. But this is an uphill task as many countries within the continent still require excruciating visa processes to travel from one African country to the other.

Despite several improvements to visa legislation in African countries (such as in Djibouti, Mozambique, and Rwanda), many immigration policies no longer respond to the present-day needs of African businesses and citizens.

African countries remain closed off to each other, making travel within the continent difficult. Africa is one of the regions in the world with the highest visa requirements. This situation is even more restricted for Africans travelling within Africa, as compared to Europeans and North Americans.

This is even though the number of arrivals to the continent’s destinations (and especially intra-African flights) has shown the highest growth globally over the years.

One should add that business visas are often more difficult to obtain than tourist visas. Few African countries offer visa-free access or visas on arrival to citizens of all African countries. On average, African citizens require visas to visit 60 per cent of African countries – ranging from a high of 84 per cent for Somalia to a low of 41 per cent for The Gambia.

Double standards

South Africa appears to be the most visible representative of the continent’s visa double standard, remaining largely closed to other Africans but more welcoming to the wider world.

East Africans, on the other hand, require the most visas to travel within Africa, while countries in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have the most access, requiring a visa to visit under 50 per cent of the African countries.

This is mainly due to the visa-free movement within the ECOWAS sub-region, implemented under the 1979 Protocol of Free Movement. Free Movement is also in place in the East African Community (EAC).

Last line

Sustaining the momentum on visa liberalization is crucial for realizing the vision of the ‘Africa We Want.’ Embracing liberal visa policies will not only facilitate seamless travel but also contribute significantly to enhanced trade in goods, cross-border investment and shared prosperity.

Google+