23 July 2018•Update: 23 July 2018
By Addis Getachew
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia
A new study says free movement of people in Africa is vital for the transfer of labor, skills and technology and boosting investment and tourism.
"The Benefits and Challenge of Free Movement of Persons in Africa" was launched on Monday at the African Union headquarters in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.
The study, commissioned jointly by the African Union Commission and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), was requested by AU member states during a meeting on October 2017 in Kigali, Rwanda, on Migration, Refugees and internally displaced persons (IDP).
The AU protocol on Free Movement of Persons adopted in January 2018 by African leaders has so far been signed by 27 countries with Rwanda taking a further step of ratifying it and Kenya and Seychelles taking the practical steps of allowing Africans in on the basis of visa on arrival.
Some 40 percent of African people depended on cross-border trade, the study said.
"Tens of millions of African traders already operate in one form or another on borders where crossing is easier, but the implementation of free movement of persons could help those operating along more difficult borders, [and] will likely reduce, if not eliminate, unnecessary harassment by border agencies."
According to the study, free movement of persons in Africa, would be vital to “[…] Boost intra-Africa trade, commerce and tourism; facilitate labor mobility, intra-African knowledge and skill transfer; promote pan-African identity, social integration and tourism; improve trans-border infrastructure and shared development,” among other benefits.
However, the study says drugs smuggling, security issues, terrorism would be among the main challenges that would entail implementation of the free movement of people in Africa, which is one of the strategies included in Agenda 2063, the continent’s political, economic and social development blueprint.
“The challenges however are not insurmountable,” Minata Samate Cessouma, African Union Commissioner for Political Affairs said at the launch.
She called on countries that have not yet signed the protocol to sign it and those that signed it to accelerate the ratification process, so that Africans move freely across the continent with a view to continental integration.
