The Africa Prosperity Network (APN) and Ethiopian Airlines on Monday held talks at the airline’s headquarters in Addis Ababa to explore a strategic collaboration to advance the Make Africa Borderless Now! agenda.
According to a press release issued by APN, the campaign seeks to persuade African governments to implement economic integration-focused treaties and protocols that have already been adopted but remain slow in implementation. These include the Free Movement of Persons, Right of Residence and Right of Establishment Protocol and the Single Africa Air Transport Market Protocol, both adopted in 2018.
The discussions, which build on engagements that began last year, focused on how both parties can work together to promote the free movement of people, goods and services across Africa. Air transport was recognised as a critical enabler of the continent’s economic integration and a key driver of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
During the meeting, described by both sides as positive, APN invited Africa’s biggest airline to become a major partner in the movement launched in Accra this February. The campaign aims to mobilise 10 million signatures calling for, among others, free movement across Africa, visa-free travel for Africans across the continent, and implementation of the AfCFTA Digital Trade Protocol.
Group CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, Mesfin, expressed support for the initiative, stating: “We would like to be part of this initiative.” He acknowledged the impact of visa restrictions on the continent’s growth, saying: “Visa is an obstacle to travel. But the primary reason for visa restrictions across Africa is security; however, security should be ensured in a different way than limiting people from free movement. Because whenever people move, they do so with money for tourism, money for investments, or money to buy goods and services.”
He added that although “a borderless Africa will not happen overnight,” it is possible to accelerate the process through the initiative. He further noted that greater freedom of movement would significantly boost intra-African trade and air cargo volumes.
Executive Chairman and Founder of APN, Mr Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, emphasised the need for African central banks and regulators to enable continent-wide mobile money interoperability. This, he said, would allow Africans to buy and sell across borders using their mobile money wallets.
Addressing security concerns linked to free movement, Mr Otchere-Darko cited existing regional frameworks as evidence that such challenges can be managed. “In the area of security concerns, ECOWAS as a bloc has biometric ECOWAS passports and IDs. So when a citizen of a member state travels to a member country, their details are known. So even if it is visa-free, as long as there is a biometric ID, you can track people. ECOWAS has that, and the long-awaited AU passport can do that too. Rwanda, with its visa-free policy for Africans, has proved that security concerns cannot be an obstacle to the free movement protocol,” he stated.
He further highlighted the urgency of the movement’s demands, noting: “For now, only four countries have signed up to the Free Movement Protocol, which requires 15 signatories to be ratified. It is not right that people from outside the continent have more access to Africa and African economic opportunities than Africans, with the number of Africans travelling by air to destinations outside the continent being more than Africans travelling within the continent. The Make Africa Borderless Now! campaign is a practical demand by Africans that will allow Africans to take full benefit of our own economic opportunities.”
The engagement reflects what the release describes as growing momentum behind the Make Africa Borderless Now! movement and a shared commitment to translating Africa’s integration ambitions into practical, continent-wide outcomes. Further meetings are expected to define the scope of the potential collaboration.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh
