US-China trade deal: 3 fundamental issues remain unresolved
The U.S. and China have reportedly reached a so-called phase one deal in their ongoing trade war.
By David Whitehouse
Posted on Monday, 18 November 2019 17:08
African countries are becoming increasingly open to visitors from across the continent, with most countries making “steady progress” in terms of visa openness, according to the Africa Visa Openness Index presented by the African Union Commission and the African Development Bank at the Africa Investment Forum (AIF) in Johannesburg last week.
For the first time, Africans need visas to travel to less than half of other African countries, the report finds. A record 87% of African countries either improved or maintained their score, an increase of 9 points from 2018.
Yet the freedom of movement that will be needed to make the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) a success remains a work in progress.
Africa’s infrastructure deficit was a central theme at the AIF, which highlighted the need to attract investment into large-scale railway and road projects. Such projects will both require and further stimulate the free movement of people.
The absence of the protocol for free movement of persons was a notable omission from the agenda at the African Union Summit in Niger in July, according to a paper by Mehari Taddele Maru of the Migration Policy Centre at the European University Institute in Florence. The AfCFTA was launched at the Niger summit.
Mehari Taddele Maru argues that a trust deficit and the negative mindset of government officials are key constraints, and arise from a lack of political will and determination.
Regardless of the existence of a free movement regime, African states are vulnerable to threats from within as much from without, the paper says.
A true free mobility regime requires “better-resourced airports and border posts and significant work and investment in border governance,” Mehari Taddele Maru writes.
Bottom Line: Increased investment in border capacity would give African states greater confidence to further liberalise their visa policies.
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