The government of Uganda recently started rolling out the new East African e-passports to replace the old travel documents , in fact the old passports will stop working by early 2021. But there is another passport that is set to roll-out on the African continent. As the African Union still struggles to keep its promise to deliver a continental passport by the end of the year, what happens to the EA e-passports we are now getting?. The travel document would allow visa-free travel between the Union’s 55 member countries.
Four years ago, the African Union promised to deliver a continental travel document to “help realize the dream of visa-free travel for African citizens within their own continent by 2020.”
Its true, any one would prefer to have an African e-passport than a smaller regional travel document. The potential economic impact is huge. Recently-released data shows that intra-African travel continues to lag the world and that is why rolling out the African passport is paramount. The continent’s 1.2 billion people made far fewer intra-continental trips—in total, and per person—than Europeans, Asians and Americans.
Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and other countries in the EA community are now in the process of unifying their travel documentation. But the African Passport is meant to be more stronger than these regional travel documents. First introduced in 2016, the African passport is still exclusive to heads of state and other diplomats with Chadian leader Idriss Déby and Rwandan president Paul Kagame being the first recipients. Immigration experts from member states, however, met last July in Nairobi to deliberate on the document’s technical specifications, security features, and how best to unroll it across the AU’s 55 states.
Skeptics point out the move will be challenging, with many African states already resistant to migrants and refugees, and some have been quietly tightening their visa rules.
Africa has been making improvements on political integration within the continent in recent years. Nigeria recently announced that Africans traveling to the country do not need to apply for a visa beforehand. That means all Africans can now travel without a pre-trip visa to at least 53% of Africa’s countries. That’s up from 45% four years ago. US nationals can travel to 65% of African countries visa-free.
We don’t expect the African Passport to be ready for roll out in several African countries anytime soon, or whether in case it rolls out, East African citizens will be allowed to use their current shinny new travel documents until they expire until they can acquire a new passport. Would you prefer an African Passport or an EA Passport? Leave us a comment below.
