UNITED AFRICA: IS A VISA-FREE AFRICAN FUTURE BENEFICIAL?

as of last month, the African continent has moved a step closer to having visa-free travel available to all African nationals, with the roll-out of the African passport, part of the ambitious Vision 2063 plan, which could profoundly impact the continent in terms of intra-regional trade, economic development, and regional integration. a

In a move that some are calling ‘the makings of the United States of Africa,’ the official African passport was unveiled in July this year at the African Union (AU) summit in Kigali, Rwanda. The AU’s vision is to distribute a single, common visa-free (or visaon- arrival) electronic African passport to all African citizens, giving visa-free access to all 54 AU member states. Within the framework of Africa’s Agenda 2063, the project aims for mandatory granting of a minimum 30-day visa for African citizens visiting any African country by 2018, and an inspiring goal of a single, continental passport by 2020.

Even more ambitious is the vision for the African GDP