The tendency to facilitate intra-African mobility enhances commercial integration.
On May 18, Togo announced that all African nationals could enter the country without a visa and stay there for up to 30 days. The measure reflects “the promotion of greater cooperation between the States and peoples of the continent,” according to the Togolese Ministry of Security. A week later, while Africa Day was being celebrated, Ghana implemented a total visa exemption for African passport holders, an initiative promoted by its previous president, Nana Akufo-Addo, who already noted during his mandate that “this is the next logical step after the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the operation of the largest trading bloc in the world.” That same day, the president of the Republic of Congo, Denis Sassou-Nguesso, announced that his country will exempt all Africans from the visa requirement as of January 1, 2027. The measure has already been adopted by the governments of Benin, Gambia, Rwanda and Kenya. Other nations are already moving forward with bilateral agreements.
Ugandan Joy Kategekwa, director of the Regional Integration Coordination Office of the African Development Bank, had already pointed out in Africa Visa Openness Report 2025 (Africa Visa Opening Report 2025) that “Africans move mainly within Africa. “This is where most see the opportunity to make their dreams come true.” This document raises the idea of an “Africa Zone” similar to the Schengen area. According to Kategekwa, “our continent has been built on bold ideas that at the time scared many and seemed impossible. A visa-free Africa is a good economic policy.
The elimination of visas is one of the points included in Agenda 2063, the roadmap of the African Union (AU), which includes the Protocol on the Free Movement of People and the Single African Passport project, two initiatives that are advancing at a slower pace than desirable. Kenyan analyst Gordon K’Achola has warned in ChinaDaily that Africa is the only region with intracontinental trade below 20%, while in others it exceeds 50%. For K’Achola, “facilitating travel could stimulate tourism and business activity.”
According to Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, Ghanaian Minister of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, “the $3.4 trillion market potential of the AfCFTA cannot be fully realized if companies cannot meet in person, negotiate agreements, establish partnerships and build cross-border value chains.”
Before colonization, people moved freely across the continent until European powers imposed artificial borders and immigration controls. After independence, leaders such as Kwame Nkrumah advocated for a united Africa where citizens were not treated as foreigners in their own territory. Agenda 2063 advances along these lines. He Africa Visa Openness Report shows that the opportunities to travel without this document have increased from 20% in 2016 to 28% in 2025. A slow, but increasing pace.
In the image, two workers load goods on the Transgabonés on March 20, 2025. Photograph: Nao Mukadi/Getty
