Common passport for Africa: A Pan-African dream fulfilled

17 Jul, 2016 - 00:07 0 Views
Common passport for Africa: A Pan-African dream fulfilled Rwanda’s Foreign Affairs Minister Louise Mushikiwabo

The Sunday Mail

Rwanda’s Foreign Affairs Minister Louise Mushikiwabo

Rwanda’s Foreign Affairs Minister Louise Mushikiwabo

At a time when the European Union is unravelling due to Britain’s exit, the African Union is charting a new path in enhancing economic integration and the free movement of people through the launch of a visa free common passport that gives access to all the 54 member states.

The common passport is undoubtedly one of the most progressive moves by AU in years.

The move clearly proves the serious intent of the continent’s leadership in pragmatically dealing with issues of economic integration through the removal of obstacles that hindered intra-continental trade.

Besides easing access restrictions for travel within the continent, it is also envisaged that the common passport will work as a deterrent for people embarking on dangerous migration routes to Europe.

The official launch of the passport, which took place yesterday at the 27th African Union Summit in Kigali, Rwanda, paved way for the eventual roll out of the passport to continental citizens by 2018.

Analysts believe the passport will assist in eliminating bottlenecks in trade integration and sprucing up non-tariff barriers within regional communities.

A number of non-tariff and regulatory barriers still fuel transaction costs and limit the movement of goods, services, people and capital across borders throughout Africa.

Promotion of intra-African trade will inevitably boost the ease of doing business continent-wide, which will result in reduced deficit among African nations.

Rwanda’s Foreign Affairs Minister Louise Mushikiwabo could not have put it any better when he told journalists at the 27th AU Summit that the passport was one of Africa’s strategic initiatives to disband all movement restrictions and will eventually create a conducive environment for intra-African trade.

Minister Mushikiwabo said her country was ready for the AU passport issuance, and believed the free movement of people in Africa will spur economic growth.

The concept of unrestricted movement of persons, goods and services across regions and the continent is not a new phenomenon as it has been outlined in documents like the Lagos Plan of Action and the Abuja Treaty.

The Lagos Plan of Action, which was officially the Lagos Plan of Action for the Economic Development of Africa (1980-2000), was a plan backed by the AU’s predecessor, the Organisation of African Unity, to increase the continent’s self-sufficiency.

The plan has been described as the inaugural collective response of African states to the World Bank’s 1981 Berg Report. Africa’s economic problems were squarely blamed on structural economic programmes of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund and the vulnerability of African economies to worldwide shocks.

So, in essence, it is the Lagos Plan of Action, including President Mugabe’s call for self-sufficiency, that has given birth to a common passport set to play a critical role in promoting intra-continental trade.

The move also represents a step towards the historic vision of pan-Africanism as espoused by post-independence leaders like Ghana’s founding president Kwame Nkrumah and Egypt’s Gamal Abdel Nasser.

It has always been Nkrumah’s vision that the continent practically moves to integrate its economies and utilise its resources first for the benefit of its citizens, instead of being a perennial provider of raw materials.

The issuance of the passport also represents a key component of Agenda 2063, which emphasises the need for greater continental integration, drawing on the popular vision of Pan-African unity as freedom of movement has always been a long standing priority among member states as enshrined in previous agreements such as the 1991 Abuja Treaty.

Just 13 African states are presently open to all African citizens without advance visas, with many placing severe restrictions on travel.

A recent African Development Bank report suggested that easing entrance requirements would support economic growth, citing the case of Rwanda, which saw its GDP and tourism revenues climb after abolishing visas.

African Union political affairs director Dr Rhabele Matlosa believes opening borders will have a profound effect for workers at the lower end of the scale.

Dr Matlosa said: “We have a problem now that young people are risking their lives to cross the Sahara Desert or travel on boats to Europe. If we open opportunities in Africa, we reduce that risk.”

Dr Matlosa also believes a closer AU will not be so threatened by concerns about immigration or loss of sovereignty as Africa is a continent of migrants and the people are naturally not suspicious of refugees.

“This is a test of our Pan-Africanism, the doctrine which underpins the African Union’s existence. We are committed to this philosophy.”

Dr Matlosa, however, acknowledges that the target of providing all citizens with the passport by 2018 is an ambitious one.

While logistical hurdles are always unavoidable in a project of this nature, especially given the fact that not all countries have the same level of technology needed for the biometric system and to register their citizens, analysts believe the envisaged benefits outweigh any challenges.

It is also important that countries that depended on visa fees as a source of revenue must start unwinding and think of alternative sources of revenue.

The broader benefits of the visa free passport include enhanced international trade within the continent, which, in turn, reduces the widespread dependence on Western goods and offer new opportunities to many citizens.

For a long time, many people had been asking about the practical benefits of being a member of the AU.

It is without doubt that the issuance of the passport is one of the most important social and economic responses to that question, which allows business to flow, students to travel and people to move from one corner of the continent to another.

Fears of terror groups and organised crime taking advantage of the open borders are also unfounded as the key advantage would be the centralisation of records to show the movement of all the people.

As a biometric passport, the e-passport contains an electronic chip that is encoded with the same information normally found on the second page of a conventional passport.

This information includes one’s surname, first name, date of birth and sex.

It also includes a digital image of the bearer.

The electronic chip provides greater protection against fraud and tempering.

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