Experts fault tough visa rules in Africa
What you need to know:
- International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, says African economic growth, going forward, will depend more on the trade relations within the continent than the western world.
Strict visa requirements in Africa have hampered growth of trade and job creation on the continent, a panel of economic experts has said.
The professionals hosted by the World Economic Forum and African Development Bank (AfDB) in Marrakech, Morocco, faulted strict visa restrictions as the undoing to the continent’s economy.
“Visa restrictions imply missed economic opportunities for intra-regional trade and for the local service economy such as tourism, cross-country medical services or education.
“Africa is one of the regions in the world with the highest visa requirements,” AfDB’s vice-president Mthuli Ncube said on Friday.
Even worse is the grilling of Africans visiting the neighbouring countries; the restrictions are always higher for those travelling within Africa than for Europeans and North Americans.
International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, says African economic growth, going forward, will depend more on the trade relations within the continent than the western world.
High visa restrictions in this context are therefore major bottlenecks to growth in the African economies.
“The private sector is the engine of growth and we all talk about improving the climate for business sector. Visas are a major barrier and pose restrictions on doing business,” Mr Abdul Awl of Dabashill Group said.
According to Ecowas commissioner of macroeconomic policy, Mr Ibrahim Bocar Ba, about 80 per cent of Africa’s migration is intra-regional.
“Nonetheless, Africans need visas to go to 80 per cent of all African countries. These restrictions are higher for Africans travelling within Africa than for Europeans and North Americans,” Mr Bocar said.
Rwanda’s director-general of planning at the Finance ministry Leonard Rugwabiza shared his country’s lessons since its move to biometrix border management that has significantly reduced inconvenience in the visa section for African citizens.
“Since we opened our borders in January 2013, tourism from African countries has increased by 24 per cent,” Mr Rugwabiza said.
