35 Visas: Why Africa Must Open Its Own Borders

Africa signed the African Continental Free Trade Area to become one market of more than a billion people. Yet an African businessman can still need dozens of visas to travel his own continent.

The problem

• Aliko Dangote, Africa's richest man, said in 2024 that he needed 35 visas to travel Africa on his Nigerian passport.
• He has pointed out that a French or British passport moves more freely across Africa than an African one.
• Only about 14–17% of Africa's trade happens within Africa, compared with about 70% within Europe.

Why it matters

Traders, engineers, students and investors cannot build regional businesses if they cannot move. Every visa queue is a lost deal, a lost job, a lost idea.

What is already changing

Some countries have opened up. Kenya introduced visa-free entry for Africans (with an online travel authorisation), and Dangote has urged others to follow. The African Renaissance Retreat resolved to support ratifying the African Union's free movement of people protocol.

Our position

1. Visa-free or visa-on-arrival entry for all African passport holders.
2. Fast ratification of the free movement protocol.
3. Use the free trade area as a platform for industry, not just paperwork.

Sources: Prime Business Africa (Africa CEO Forum, 2024); Business Report (Africa We Build Summit, April 2026); Graphic Online (Accra Reset); African Caucus speech, Banjul (July 2026).