Paul Kagame, the Rwandan President, had on Thursday, November announced the relaxation of visa restrictions for all Africans wishing to visit the Central African nation.
This announcement makes Rwanda the fourth African country to do so.
President Kagame had given a statement saying:
“Let there be no mistake about it. Any African can get on a plane to Rwanda whenever they wanted and not pay anything to enter our country.”
For many decades, several African leaders have toyed with the idea of approving free movement by citizens across the continent, even going as far as campaigning for a unified single African passport.
Muammar Gaddafi, the late Libyan strongman had been a tenacious proponent of the free movement of people and services.
Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta had during his inauguration speech in 2017, taken the bold step to announce that the tourism hub in the country would now give visas on arrival to all African citizens.
Rwanda has been advocating to for the boost of its tourism sector, forming collaborations with European football clubs like Arsenal and Bayern Munich to foster the country as a prime tourist destination.
The African Union has hailed the decision of Rwanda and Kenya to improve free trade across the continent.
The AU Commission chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat had taken to X om Friday, November 3 to encourage “all African states” to take similar measures.
According to Mahamat, commerce among African countries is only at 16 per cent, while trade among European Union states is at 70 per cent.
A lot of African countries have also signed bilateral agreements for visa-free travel, the most recent countries yo join being Ghana, South Africa, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
