Earlier this year, the African Union launched a national passport, an electronic passport, which will eliminate visa requirements for Africans traveling to any country on the continent. The common e-passport was issued initially to heads of state and senior officials, with the goal of providing passports to all African citizens by 2020. By making travel easier, the national passport will open up tourism to the billion Africans on the continent — a population expected to double by 2050 — as well as foster new business opportunities and facilitate economic growth.
Today, travel on the continent remains difficult for most Africans. According to the African Visa Openness Report 2016, issued by the African Development Bank Group and the African Union, visas are required for more than half of the countries on the continent. Only 13 African countries don’t require visas or issue them on arrival. In fact, it can be easier for non-Africans to travel to many African countries. For example, U.S. citizens can travel to 20 African countries without visas or with visas on arrival.
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A Quartz article documents the experiences and hurdles faced by an African traveler who wants to visit another African country. Because travel documents must be provided in advance, travel plans must be exact and determined ahead of time. It can be challenging to navigate the official channels to secure visas, which are often quite expensive. Many are valid for only a month, discouraging repeat visits. Think what it would be like to live in the United States and need a visa each time you wanted to vacation in the Bahamas, Jamaica or Mexico. Or what if you needed a visa each time you had to visit Canada for business.
A report by the African Tourism Monitor cites a 2014 study on the impact of regional visa reform in other areas of the world by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). Open visa systems and policies can boost tourism revenues and increase employment by 5 percent to 25 percent, the study says. For example, both domestic African and international airlines would see a boost from the increased African tourism that would be facilitated by visa reform.
Travel difficulties also have a major impact on business, with intra-African trade costing more than any other region. Quartz cites a World Bank statistic that a truck serving supermarkets in southern Africa needs to carry as many as 1,600 documents, including permits and licenses, in order to cross borders. Instituting the national passport is the first step toward the African Union’s objective to create a free trade zone and a borderless Africa.
The significance of the national passport and the goal of a unified Africa essentially comes down to job creation. With a young population, Africa’s workforce is growing, expected to surpass that of China and India by 2034, according to a McKinsey report. African citizens, especially young people, need to be able to travel freely to go where the jobs are. One of the benefits of the European Union has been to offer more or less borderless employment opportunities to young people, who feel they have the most to lose in the wake of the Brexit vote.
Ironically, during this period when the European Union is being severely tested, Africa is making major strides toward unity. Easing border restrictions and moving toward one Africa will be fundamental to 21 st century growth — and visa reform is the first giant leap.
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Why Visa Reform is So Important for Africa originally appeared on usnews.com
