Visa-Free Travel Isn’t a Silver Bullet for Africans Crossing African Borders

In early November, the governments of Kenya and Rwanda announced that they were extending visa-free travel to all African visitors to both countries. The two nations joined the Seychelles, Benin and Gambia in promising to remove visas as an obstacle to African travelers. While the move toward visa-free travel is a step in the right direction, it is not sufficient to address the range of challenges facing Africans crossing national borders in Africa. Free movement of people across Africa is not just a central demand of the pan-African movement. Free movement of people is also a key priority of the AU’s Agenda 2063, the main policy document that serves as a roadmap for the organization’s current programs.