Kenyan President William Ruto plans to eliminate visa requirements for all African visitors. This announcement, made during an international conference, aligns with the African Union's (AU) decade-long goal of promoting intra-African travel and reflects the broader continental trend of easing travel restrictions.
Currently, only Seychelles, The Gambia, and Benin offer visa-free entry to all African citizens, according to a 2022 AU-endorsed report. However, many African nations are progressively simplifying entry processes and lifting restrictions for fellow African visitors. This progress, albeit slow, is marked by regional deals and bilateral agreements. For instance, despite being ranked 31st on the Visa Openness Index out of 54 states in 2022, Kenya is making strides towards improvement. The AU has also introduced the African passport in 2016, aiming to enable visa-free travel across the continent, although its distribution has been limited due to concerns over security, smuggling, and local employment markets.
While the continent is gradually liberalizing its travel policies, it simultaneously wrestles with underreported humanitarian crises. Care International's 2023 "Breaking the Silence" report reveals that the top ten overlooked humanitarian crises are all in Africa, including hunger in Angola, chronic malnutrition in Burundi, and high child mortality in the Central African Republic.
Despite the gravity of these crises, media attention has been sparse. An analysis of five million online articles from January 1 to September 30, 2023, by media monitoring service Meltwater found that only 77,000 addressed Africa's humanitarian disasters, while the new Barbie film received over 273,000 mentions. This lack of coverage is not indicative of the severity of the crises. For instance, Angola and Burundi, topping the list of overlooked crises, have over seven million people and nearly 5.6 million children in need of aid due to drought, flooding, hunger, and chronic malnutrition, respectively.
As we move into 2024, it is estimated that nearly 300 million people worldwide will require humanitarian aid, with almost half of them in Africa. This highlights the urgency for improved media and political cooperation to bring these emergencies to the forefront of global consciousness.
In parallel with these humanitarian efforts, African nations like Rwanda are also progressing towards visa-free travel. Rwandan President Paul Kagame has announced visa-free entry for all Africans, aiming to stimulate the free movement of people and trade. Once enacted, Rwanda will join Gambia, Benin, and Seychelles as the fourth African country to abolish travel restrictions for Africans.
Further, Zimbabwe and Botswana are also abolishing passport requirements for each other's citizens, marking another step towards stronger African unity and collaboration. These initiatives, along with Kenya's and Rwanda's plans, represent a growing momentum towards visa-free travel within Africa, anticipated to bring economic benefits and trade opportunities.
The path towards a borderless Africa is ongoing, but the steps taken by these nations signal a hopeful future. As Africa continues to dismantle its borders, it is incumbent upon the world to increase its understanding and awareness of the continent's unseen humanitarian crises. This dual unraveling is essential to fully appreciate the richness and complexity of this diverse continent and its people.
READ MORE
