President Paul Kagame on Thursday, November 2 announced that all Africans will now travel to Rwanda without having to acquire visas.
President Kagame made the announcement in Kigali he pitched the idea of placing Africa to become a unified tourism destination.
“Any African, can get on a plane to Rwanda whenever they wish and they will not pay a thing to enter our country,” stated Kagame during the 23rd Global Summit of the World Travel and Tourism Council.
“We should not lose sight of our own continental market,” he said. “Africans are the future of global tourism as our middle class continues to grow at a fast pace in the decades to come,” Kagame added.
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.
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.
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 boost economic development.
Kagame beat President William Ruto who had hinted at scrapping visa requirements to allow all Africans to travel to Kenya by December 31.
“Visa restrictions amongst ourselves are working against us. When people cannot travel, business people cannot travel, entrepreneurs cannot travel we all become net losers” Ruto said at an international summit in Congo Brazzaville.
