The African Development Bank (AfDB) has urged countries in the continent to open their borders to encourage the promotion of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The Director-General, Nigeria Country Department, AfDB, Lamin Barrow, said this on the sidelines of the Africa Visa Openness Report release in Balaclava, Mauritius, released by the African Union (AU) and the AfDB at the 2022 African Economic Conference (AEC).
Barrow said more needed to be done as it was pertinent for Africa to hasten the free trade of goods and services within the continent.
He continued: “I think we are talking about the era of the African continental free trade area. So, all the African countries really should open their borders to Africans.
“I think it is a paradox as we know that non-Africans can enter and move across Africa easier than our own fellow Africans. I think that the minimum we can do is to equalise that opportunity. And then, of course, we go further and make it easy for any African to wake up and move across without the need for visas.”
President of the AfDB, Akinwumi Adesina, said there was a need to break all barriers impeding people’s free movement across the continent.
“This is especially the workers. This is vital for promoting investment,” he said.
I think it is a paradox as we know that non-Africans can enter and move across Africa easier than our own fellow Africans. I think that the minimum we can do is to equalise that opportunity.
Also in the report, Deputy Chairperson, AU Commission, Monique Nsanzabaganwa, said restricting Africans’ ability to move across borders impedes trade and stifles industrialisation.
“It discourages innovation and stymies the formation of regional value chains. It is not enough to agree on rules of origin that promote ‘Made in Africa’ products.
“For AfCFTA to succeed, non-tariff barriers to trade must be dismantled, too. Among other things, Africans must be free to move around the continent without having to apply for costly and time-consuming visas to study, trade, and develop their businesses,” she said.
Furthermore, Acting Vice President, Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery, AfDB, Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, in the report, said the bank supports countries and regions in developed policies. (NAN)
