Visa-free travel - Kenya-South Africa pact boosts the AfCFTA

12-11-22

South Africans now get free visas on arrival in the East African nation, a gesture that Kenyans have long wanted to see reciprocated. Kenyans travelling to South Africa had to pay a $40 visa fee and prove that they had sufficient funds and had booked return air tickets.

The visa agreement between Kenya and South Africa will come into force on 1 January, initiating the visa-free travel agreement.

At the time of the announcement, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was in Kenya on his first official trip to the country at the invitation of President Ruto.

Ramaphosa said they discussed the visa issue between Kenya and South Africa to allow Kenyans to visit the southern African nation without a visa.

"This will officially start on January 1, 2023, and will be available to Kenyans for a period of 90 days a year," he said.

In addition, the Kenyan and South African leaders instructed their respective trade ministers to work on removing barriers that limit trade between the two African countries. Following a meeting between Presidents Ruto and Ramaphosa, the two countries have affirmed that Kenya and South Africa will address non-tariff barriers such as licensing bureaucracy, regulatory restrictions and sanctions, allowing for open business in industries, agricultural exports and logistics.

The two leaders signed four instruments, and the agreement on the elimination of trade barriers was part of them to foster cooperation.

President Ruto said he and his counterpart agreed to develop a sustainable mechanism for the identification, monitoring and resolution of non-trade barriers that limit trade potential between Kenya and South Africa.

In addition, three Memoranda of Understanding were signed between Kenya and South Africa and a Prison Science Cooperation Agreement on housing and human settlement and cooperation between the Kenya School of Government and the South African National School of Government on audio-visual co-production.

The decision to allow Kenyans to travel visa-free to South Africa could boost the Kenyan passport, which in July was ranked among Africa's favourite passports by the Henley Passport Index report.

Kenya ranked 76th globally, having improved by one point from 77th last year.

The Henley Passport Index mobility score was 72. The score measures the number of countries to which a passport holder from a given nation can travel without a visa.

In Africa, the Kenyan passport ranked the most powerful after those of Seychelles, Mauritius, South Africa, Botswana, eSwatini, Malawi and Lesotho.

Even as Kenya and South Africa relax their visa requirements, Africans remain hopeful that there will be an African passport for every African that would allow visa-free travel across the continent.

An African passport would be instrumental in relaxing travel restrictions and breaking down barriers to intra-African mobility and trade.

The African passport is a flagship project of the African Union's (AU) Agenda 2063, which envisions an integrated, politically united continent based on the ideals of Pan-Africanism with the vision of African renaissance. It would be a key component of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which could benefit greatly from visa-free travel.

To test the systems, the AU Unified African Passport was launched in July 2016 at the 27th Ordinary Session of the AU in Kigali, Rwanda. It was scheduled to be made available to Africans in 2020, but with the pandemic, plans appear to have been shelved.

Currently, only AU officials, diplomats and government leaders have received the passport, which has the potential to remove Africa's physical barriers to visa-free travel.

Once successfully launched, the African passport will become a common document that will replace the national passports of AU member states. It will exempt its holders from the requirement to obtain visas for all 55 African states, facilitating visa-free travel.

As has been the case for nationally issued documents, the three types of AU passports to be issued will include the 32-page Ordinary Passport, valid for five years. This document will be issued to citizens destined for occasional travel, such as business trips and holidays, making the visa waiver a reality.

Government institutions with officials on official travel will be issued the official or service passport to seconded officials.

At the same time, the two leaders hailed Ethiopia's peace agreement signed last week under the mediation of the African Union in South Africa.

Ruto and Ramaphosa called on the Ethiopian parties to fully implement the agreement for a lasting political solution.

Author: Njenga Hakeenah