Governance
Africa is Set to Roll Out its Single Passport This Year By Apolinari Tairo - eTN Tanzania
SINGLE PASSPORT FOR ALL AFRICAN NATIONS is set to be introduced this year as the continent is forging its way to easing movements of people and goods within its internal boundaries. Single passport for Africans is a declaration of the Africa Union Agenda 2063 seeking to integrate the continent’s business and politics based on PanAfricanism and the vision of Africa’s Renaissance. The African passport is the flagship project of the 2063 Agenda aiming to remove restrictions on Africans’ ability to travel, work and live within their own 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 50
January-February 2021
free movement of all African citizens in all African countries. The African Union Passport is currently available to government leaders, diplomats and AU officials only. Reports from South Africa said that the passport is set to be rolled out this year as an implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Reports said that the AfCFTA aims to bring together 1.3 billion people in Africa’s US$ 3.4 trillion economy, creating a single market for goods and services in addition to a customs union with free movement of both capital and business travelers. The Africa Union Agenda 2063 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 free movement of all African citizens in all African countries. The passport is expected to ease travel within the African continent to stimulate then create economic success to this Continent. Tourism is on top agenda among key economic areas envisaged to boost Africa’s development and social welfare of its people. The AU has been pushing its objective to double intra-Africa tourism by 2023, as part of the 10-year implementation plan (2014- 2023), which fits into the broad AU Agenda 2063 on free movements between African states. The introduction of an African passport and opening up of borders has the potential and capacity to ensure that African travelers get the opportunity to explore the continent, which indeed has significant economic, political, cultural and social benefits. Among such benefits are: • Boosting intra-Africa trade, commerce and tourism; • Facilitating labour mobility, intra-Africa knowledge and skills transfer; • Promoting pan-African identity, social integration and tourism; • Improving trans-border infrastructure and shared development; DAWN
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