The African Union passport which will be launched in Kigali during the ongoing 27th AU Summit will ease the movement of people, spur economic growth and development as well as promote Intra-African trade.
Rwanda’s Foreign Affairs Minister Louise Mushikiwabo while addressing journalists at the summit said the issuance of African passport is among the African strategic initiative intended to come as a possible rescue to disband all the restrictions to move which will eventually create a conducive environment for Africans to trade with each other.
“Rwanda is ready for the AU Passport issuance. Other countries will also be working towards implementation of this decision. The free movement of people in Africa will spur our economic growth,” she said.
“Passports will be delivered to Heads of State and other diplomats during the launch but the entire objective is for all African citizens to get this passport to facilitate their free movement. What we want is for African countries to fast-track this initiative,” said Minister Mushikiwabo, while responding to journalists questions about the project.
She further mentioned that after the launch of the African Union Passport, every country will then proceed with the issuance of the passports in accordance with their national regulations and this will be done in collaboration with the African Union.
When asked about whether the use of single passport won’t cause insecurity on the continent, the Rwandan Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation noted that the passport was a blessing, not a curse, however, adding that, African countries were inquisitive about this and were ready to deal with insecurity accordingly. “The fear for insecurity should not stop people from moving. It shouldn’t be an impediment for free movement of our people, we must be prepared to deal with all sorts of insecurity. For us in East African community we have gone ahead to work together in intelligence and security to deal with all factors that can cause insecurity,” Mushukiwabo further emphasized.
According to the African Union website regional trade integration has long been a strategic objective for Africa yet, despite some success in eliminating non-tariff barriers within regional communities, the African market remains highly fragmented. A range of non-tariff and regulatory barriers still raise transaction costs and limit the movement of goods, services, people and capital across borders throughout Africa.
With the promotion of Intra-African trade, it will boost and ease doing business within African countries which later will reduce the trade deficit among African nations.
