Politics
The World Economic Forum Works to Spur a Visa-Free Africa
A fortnight ago in Abuja, Nigeria the World Economic Forum brought together political, economic and thought leaders from throughout the continent. This included Rwanda’s Paul Kagame, Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta, Nigeria’s Goodluck Jonathan as well as others from across the globe such as China’s Premiere Li Keqiang.
While many political and economic issues were discussed, according to the Rwandan New Times, one issue dominated the conversation unlike any other. This issue was greater continental cooperation on open, visa-free movement throughout the continent.
This focus comes from the tremendous impediment to movement and trade caused by various visa restrictions throughout the continent. According to a 2013 study by the African Development Bank, According to the study, “Visas represent high cost in terms of money and time for the individual applying for visas, as well as missed opportunities for the local service economy and for trade.”
The study goes further, declaring that the continent has among the world’s “highest visa requirements.” At the time the analysis was conducted only five African countries admitted all other African passport-holders without a visa, Seychelles, Mozambique, Rwanda, Comoros and Madagascar. Nearly as many countries, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tome and Sudan required visas from every single African country.
On average, citizens from African states require visas to visit 60 percent of African countries. The difficulty of movement is compounded by the importance of cross border movement and migration throughout sub-Saharan Africa. According to the World Bank, 80 percent of all South-South migration takes place between border countries. If those borders are difficult to cross, migration and inter-regional cooperation becomes even more difficult.
In the beginning of 2013 Rwanda instituted a policy liberalizing entry-visas for all African passport-holders. This policy enabled such individuals to acquire their visa when arriving at the Rwandan border thereby reducing necessary preparation, confusion and difficulty. Additionally, the country instituted a bio-metric identification system using facial recognition and fingerprinting to dissuade unlawful entry.
Many states across the continent require advanced visas for entry, a major impediment to travel. The standard difficulty advanced visas cause is compounded by low internet access, difficulty of travel to embassies and consulates, language and literacy barriers and countless other factors.
