Congo Brazzaville and Togo have done what many African countries should have done long ago: remove visa barriers for fellow Africans. This month, the two countries announced visa waivers for holders of passports from all African countries, a move that deserves commendation not merely as an immigration reform, but as a bold statement of faith in Africa’s own people. Rwanda did this years ago and more countries should follow for these are not symbolic gestures but practical steps toward the Africa we have spent decades talking about in conference halls, summit declarations and continental blueprints. For long, Africans have found it easier to travel outside the continent than to cross into neighbouring African countries. That contradiction has undermined trade, tourism, investment, cultural exchange and the very idea of African integration. The African Continental Free Trade Area cannot succeed on paper alone for goods do not move themselves and ervices are not delivered by declarations. They are carried by people — entrepreneurs, traders, engineers, students, creatives, investors, workers and tourists. If these people are stopped at borders by prohibitive visa regimes, then the dream of a single African market remains incomplete. This is why this initiative should be emulated across the continent. By opening its doors to fellow Africans, Rwanda was able to strengthen its position as a hub for meetings, tourism, investment and regional engagement. The lesson is clear: openness is not recklessness but rather strategy. Africa cannot continue to preach integration while maintaining systems that treat Africans as strangers on their own continent. If we are serious about building African value chains, growing intra-African trade and reducing dependence on external markets, then free movement must be treated as economic infrastructure, just like roads, ports, railways and broadband. But visas are only one barrier. Even where entry requirements are relaxed, the cost of moving across Africa remains unacceptably high. Air travel between African cities is often more expensive, more indirect and more frustrating than travelling to destinations outside the continent. This is economically self-defeating. A businessperson should not have to fly through Europe or the Middle East to reach another African capital. A young entrepreneur should not be priced out of a regional opportunity because a short intra-African flight costs more than a long-haul journey elsewhere. The continent must therefore confront the full architecture of restricted movement: visas, excessive fees, weak air connectivity, high ticket prices, slow border procedures and outdated immigration practices.
