Good Developments in Africa

The Guardian: Visas to visit Kenya are to be scrapped for other African nationals from next year as part of a movement towards opening up trade and travel within the continent.

“By the end of this year, no African will be required to have a visa to come to Kenya,” Kenya’s president, William Ruto, said at a climate change conference in Congo-Brazzaville.

Costly and time-consuming visa requirements, as well as high air fares, have long created barriers to inter-African travel for African passport holders; 32 out of 54 African countries still require the nationals of half or more countries on the continent to obtain a visa.

Good. Kenya should also scrap visas for US and European citizens!

This is part of Africa’s move to free trade with the The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the largest free trade area in the world measured by the number of countries participating. Eventually AfCTA will cover 1.3 billion people across 55 countries.

Visas can have very high costs in reducing travel and trade. Africa is moving in the right direction. The US and Europe in contrast are adding visa requirements and the wait times to get a US visa are an absurd embarrassment.