African leaders have discussed obstacles to the continent’s economic integration and agreed on the need for visa-free movement to reduce illegal migration and strengthen official travel channels in order to enhance the continent’s development
The high-level dialogue, convened by the African Development Bank Group and the African Union Commission at the sidelines of the just concluded 38th African Union Summit, featured trade ministers and business leaders, who cited Rwanda’s experience as evidence that open borders enhance, rather than compromise, security.
A news report from the African Press Organisation (APO) Group circulated on behalf of the AfDB Group quoted its Vice President for Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery, Nnenna Nwabufo, as expressing the bank’s continued commitment to supporting the acceleration of visa-free movement across the continent.
She said: “We do it for its promise to transform Africa and to create prosperity. In fact, the goals of our new Ten‑Year Strategy (2024–2033) are designed around seizing Africa’s opportunities for a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and integrated continent.”
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In his keynote address, the African Union Commission’s Commissioner for Economic Development, Trade, Tourism, Industry and Minerals, Albert Muchanga, outlined four priority areas to open up the continent.
Specifically, the economic expert listed the areas as including, liberalizing the movement of categories of people critical for trade in goods and services, implementing the Strategic Framework on Key Actions to Achieve Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development in Africa, advancing to the next stage of African economic integration, particularly the African Common market, as envisaged under the 1991 Abuja Treaty, and establishing the appropriate facilitation measures, whether soft or hard infrastructure, to facilitate free movement of persons.
Muchanga harped on the need to make more progress on some continental projects, such as the trans-African highways (Cairo to Cape and Dakar to Mombasa), to facilitate free movement of persons.
In her paper titled “State of play in visa-free movement in Africa,” which featured findings from the latest edition of the AfricaVisa Openness Index (AVOI), AfDB’s Principal Regional Integration Coordinator, Ometere Omoluabi-Davies, spoke on the progress made by some countries in terms of opening up their borders for Africans.
According to the presentation, 39 African countries have improved their scores since 2016, indicating that visa openness across Africa is at its highest level since the inception of the index.
However, Omoluabi-Davies, noted that despite this inspiring trajectory, there was still much to be done in order to facilitate the unrestricted mobility of Africans within the continent.
Also, Rwanda Minister of Trade and Industry, Prudence Sebahizi, shared his country’s experience and economic gains from implementing a visa-free regime.
He explained: “Rwanda does not agree with the usual excuse of security threats that accompany visa-free discussions because what is important is to invest in the systems, security, governance, monitoring.
“In the end, people who travel for tourism and business will always use the official channels such as the borders and airports. This means the policy itself cannot contribute to security concerns but rather solve the issue of smuggling and illegal migration”, Sebahizi stressed.
During the roundtable discussions in which Africa’s policymakers and business leaders shared insights on implementing visa-free movement across the continent at the event, African Union’s Youth Envoy, Chido Mpemba, emphasized that the interconnectedness of young people through social media and the internet enables experience sharing and cross-border collaboration.
She maintained that the interconnectedness was critical for building the social and cultural integration needed to create a shared African identity.
The session was rounded off with a joint announcement of the 2025 Visa-Free Roadshow by AfDB Group’s Director of the Regional Integration Coordination Office, Dr. Joy Kategekwa, and Head of Employment, Labour and Migration Division of the African Union Commission, Dr. Sabelo Mbokazi.
The roadshow aims to sustain advocacy and mobilize action for visa openness and free movement within Africa’s broader regional integration agenda to deliver better results for all Africans.
