Rwanda announces visa-free travel for Africans

Rwanda announced Thursday November, 2nd that it will allow  to travel visa-free for  Africans country, becoming the latest nation on the continent to announce such a measure aimed at boosting free movement of people and trade to rival Europe’s Schengen zone.

This decision positions Rwanda as the latest African nation to adopt such a measure, joining others in the pursuit of a more integrated continent to rival Europe’s Schengen zone.

The Schengen zone, consisting of 27 European countries, has successfully eliminated the need for passports and various border control measures at their shared borders.

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Local media reports that Kagame revealed his plans on Thursday during a speech in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda.

Kagame emphasised the immense potential of Africa as a unified tourism destination.

Currently, the continent heavily depends on tourists from outside Africa, accounting for 60% of its total visitors, according to data from the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.

“Any African can get on a plane to Rwanda whenever they wish and they will not pay a thing to enter our country,” said Kagame during the 23rd Global Summit of the World Travel and Tourism Council.

“We should not lose sight of our own continental market. Africans are the future of global tourism as our middle class continues to grow at a fast pace in the decades to come,” he said.

Rwanda is poised to become the latest African nation to eliminate travel restrictions for fellow Africans, following in the footsteps of Gambia, Benin, and Seychelles.

Similarly, in a recent development, Kenya’s President William Ruto has revealed plans to allow visa-free travel to Kenya for all Africans by December 31.

Once implemented, Rwanda will become the fourth African country to remove travel restrictions for Africans. Other countries that have waived visas to African nationals are Gambia, Benin and Seychelles.

Kenya’s President William Ruto announced Monday plans to allow all Africans to travel to the East African nation visa-free by December 31.

“Visa restrictions amongst ourselves is working against us. When people cannot travel, business people cannot travel, entrepreneurs cannot travel we all become net losers” said Ruto at an international summit in Congo-Brazzaville.

The African Union in 2016 launched an African passport with much fanfare, saying it would rival the European Union model in “unleashing the potential of the continent.” However, only diplomats and AU officials have been issued the travel document so far.

The African Passport and free movement of people is “aimed at removing restrictions on Africans’ ability to travel, work and live within their own continent,” The AU says on its website.

The AU also launched the African Continental Free Trade Area, a continent-wide free trade area estimated to be worth $3.4 trillion, which aims to create a single unified market for the continent’s 1.3 billion people and to boost economic development