African countries under the African Union (AU) since 2018 have lamented what to do about continental integration and economic growth. But they're really forgetting how to bring people to people and not block trade across boundaries, Bridget Chied Onochy reports.
Seven years after adopting the African Union (AU) protocol for the Convention on Residence and Free Movement of Establishment, its poor compliance cost the continent an estimated $22 billion a year.
The 2024 Africa Visa Openness Report highlighted the contradictions between member countries' exploration of the AU for regional integration and visa restrictions, and also notified that an additional $200 billion and over 5 million tourism-related jobs have been lost to the illiberalised visa policy imposed by member states on citizens of other countries across the continent.
The treaty, adopted in the 30th regular session of the Parliament of Heads of State and Government of the African Union Member State in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 2018, aims to eliminate obstacles to the movement of citizens and goods.
Above all, the goal is to promote integration and economic growth of local economic communities recognized by the AU. This is by eliminating obstacles to movement across Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), East and South African Common Markets (Kamea), Sahel Sahara Countries (CEN-SAD), East Africa Communities (EAC), Central African American Communities (ECCCAS).
Unfortunately, the AU Passport, a biometric travel document proposed to promote the treaty, failed to meet the 2021 deadline as it did not harmonize the regulatory framework across member states.
There are also challenges with member states' commitments to protocols. For example, 34 countries were able to sign the protocol, a demonstration of their commitment to the freedom movement, with only a few including Rwanda, Samme and Principe, Mali, Niger and Chad.
Although signing the protocol has been praised, the State expresses its consent that only through the accumulation of means of ratification will the State be bound by the protocol and its provisions.
Therefore, it is not surprising that seven years after the lane, the protocol's general enforcement has stagnated in only four of the 55 AU countries. Rwanda, Benin, Gambia and the Seychelles have managed to eliminate all visa requirements for African travelers.
Ghana ranks fifth, while Nigeria and Cape Verde rank sixth on the Visa Openness Chart. It was also observed that most member countries rely not only on contributions to protocols, but also on the local instruments enjoyed primarily by citizens of their respective economic blocs.
For example, 42 countries have extended visa-free entry to citizens of five other African countries, while 33 now extend such privileges to citizens of ten countries.
Within the economic community of West African States (ECOWAS), visa liberalization is enjoyed by citizens of member countries with valid travel documents.
One of the major implications of declining compliance with Free Movement Protocols involves intra-African trade as it hampers the effectiveness of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) due to documented restrictions on intra-African trade.
The AFCFTA was established in 2018 by the African Continental Free Trade Agreement among 54 of the 55 AU countries, establishing a single market of goods and services across the continent, promoting trade and economic integration. However, the gap between policy promises and enforcement has frustrated traders and entrepreneurs across the continent, leaving question marks in the vision of a unified continent without borders.
Rakuna also increases irregular migration and pushes citizens towards the use of unsafe and illegal routes, creating humanitarian and security risks in most cases. It also forced countries to consider alternative bilateral agreements, thereby weakening the collective AU framework.
Former Head, Agriculture Department, ECOWAS Committee, now Chairman, Board of Directors, National Institute of Agriculture, Dr. Ernest Orby, Gambia, has partially linked the poor implementation of the protocol to the continental food insecurity issue.
Over the years, he frowned upon that failures in compliance remained a constant bottleneck for regulations and protocols developed at the continent, regional and even national level. “So we haven't made much progress… Europeans can move from country A to B, settle down, buy homes and settle down and set up businesses without any issues, but when it comes to Africa, people don't respect the agreements signed.
Therefore, Aubee has urged everyone to work towards positive sensitization to existing protocols and its benefits when implemented effectively.
He also made the capacity building for border posting immigration, security forces and other allied forces, as most of them are unaware of such agreements.
“They are only aware of the laws of the country, and that's why they see all sorts of things happening in border offices.” Also, the political class must have a political will to implement agreements signed in the greatest interests of their country, regions, and continents where they came from. ”
Speaking about the difficulties crossing borders, Obey also influenced the distribution of agricultural produce grown within the continent, “Trades of agricultural goods do not require these bottlenecks of agricultural goods because agricultural goods are perishable. They use containers for weeks, unlike the existence of salary life, furniture, cars and building materials, so they can exist. Of these protocols, they affect agricultural trade and consequently affect the security of food and nutrition.”
However, Ekowas member states tame protocols, Ekowas, Ekowas and Ekowas' free movement, particularly AFCFTA directors, Ekowas, Ekowas and Albert Siau Boaten, said they expressed their belief that there is hope that what began with trade factors would be fully implemented.
“For us at the ECOWAS level, the Free Movement Protocol is fully implemented in terms of entry rights. However, there are some challenges regarding residence and establishment, as member states are implemented at different levels with regard to these two phases of the Free Movement Protocol.”
The meaning of the Siaw-Boateng statement is that the protocol is not fully implemented as national law takes precedence, even within the ECOWAS subregion.
“Well, if you read the protocol very closely, it clearly shows that national laws take precedence over protocols, so these are things that need to be revised.
Some countries applicable to ECOWAS Member States provide that citizens traveling from member states to another state must have local identification or ECOWAS passports. Unfortunately, the majority of citizens are ignorant of the law, making them more prone to cheating by corridor guards and immigration officers.
“For me, this is not a challenge. The protocol requires valid travel documents before moving from one country to another. It is not for Ecowas to carry out advocacy for that sensitization. As I said recently, there are no ECOWAS police or immigrants.
“It is essentially a member state's obligation to carry out citizen advocacy and sensitization to know that before traveling to other ECOWAS countries, it is necessary to have a valid travel document, including a health card, including a yellow card.
“We have to advocate for the operatives at that high level and they have to enter their member states and pass that information on them,” he said. According to Siaw-Boateng, some local economic communities, such as ECOWAS and the East African Community (EAC), have made significant progress in implementing visa-free policies. However, the fact that Africans still require a visa to enter a country within the continent is a paradox of the continent's desire for integration.
In the view of the Executive Director Africa Travel Commission (ATC), Lucky O. George, AU, failed the goal as far as the treaty is concerned.
Even within the region, those who appear to be implementing liberal visa policies are still finding ways to withdraw money from travelers, so the movement is not entirely free, he said.
“So there's no free movement anywhere in Africa, as Africans pay to move freely,” he said, denounced the development of poor tourism sponsorship on the continent. He says that travelling outside the continent is more seamless than inside it.
“As an African, it's easier to apply and secure a Schengen visa than a Tanzanian visa,” he said. President, International Forum for Immigration for Journalists (Jiform), Ajibola Abayomi, following the signing of the AU protocol on the freedom movement, former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019 announced that all African passport holders are eligible for Visa upon arrival in Nigeria.
While this step was not sufficient for the original goal of free movement, Abayomi said enforcement is still hampered by administrative and bureaucratic challenges.
“Nigeria currently operates the e-Visa system and continues to develop a framework to align the visa process with broader economic and integration goals.”
Abayomi has previously admitted that most African citizens require a visa to enter Nigeria. “ECOWAS citizens enjoy true visa-free access under regional agreements rather than AU-wide protocols. In non-ECOWAS countries, visa procedures are simplified but still remain the same.”
In a speculation plan that North African countries such as Egypt and Morocco will join the Middle East, Abayomi said he is not surprised considering immigrants from other parts of Africa are being treated.
However, he warned that while he has sovereignty to pursue strategic interests, a shift in loyalty that separates from the AU framework, could undermine the AU's unification and shared vision, setting precedents for other countries, and reducing economic synergies, especially as both countries are key economic players.
