African policymakers, business leaders and development institutions have renewed calls for visa-free travel across the continent, describing the free movement of people as essential to unlocking Africa’s economic transformation under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The call was reinforced at a high-level symposium on Advancing a Visa-Free Africa for Economic Prosperity, co-convened by the African Development Bank Group and the African Union Commission on the margins of the 39th African Union Summit of Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa.
Participants framed mobility as the missing link in Africa’s integration agenda, arguing that while tariffs are falling under AfCFTA, restrictive visa regimes continue to limit trade in services, investment flows, tourism, and labour mobility.
Alex Mubiru, director-general for Eastern Africa at the African Development Bank Group, says visa-free travel, interoperable digital systems, and integrated markets are practical enablers of enterprise, innovation, and regional value chains to translate policy ambitions into economic activity.
“The evidence is clear. The economics support openness. The human story demands it,” he says, urging countries to move from incremental reforms to “transformative change”.
Amma Twum-Amoah, commissioner for health, humanitarian affairs and social development at the African Union Commission, calls for faster implementation of existing continental frameworks, describing visa openness as a strategic lever for deepening regional markets and enhancing collective responses to economic and humanitarian crises.
Former AU Commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma reiterates that free movement is central to the African Union’s long-term development blueprint, Agenda 2063. “If we accept that we are Africans, then we must be able to move freely across our continent,” she says, urging member states to operationalise initiatives such as the African Passport and the Free Movement of Persons Protocol.
Ghana’s trade and industry minister, Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, shares her country’s experience as an early adopter of open visa policies for African travellers, citing increased business travel, tourism, and investor interest as early dividends of greater openness.
The symposium also reviewed findings from the latest Africa Visa Openness Index, which shows that more than half of intra-African travel still requires visas before departure – seen by participants as a significant drag on intra-continental commerce.
Mesfin Bekele, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, calls for full implementation of the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM), saying aviation connectivity and visa liberalisation must advance together to enable seamless travel.
Regional representatives, including Elias Magosi, executive secretary of the Southern Africa Development Community, emphasise the importance of building trust through border management and digital information-sharing systems.
Gabby Otchere Darko, executive chairman of the Africa Prosperity Network, urges governments to support the “Make Africa Borderless Now” campaign, while tourism campaigner Ras Mubarak calls for more ratifications of the AU Free Movement of Persons protocol.