What President Kagame had to say about Rwanda’s
visa-free travel for all Africans as continent opens up to free movement of
people. Rwanda announced Thursday that it will allow Africans to travel
visafree to the country, becoming the latest nation on the continent to
announce such a measure aimed at boosting free movement of people and trade.
President PaulKagame made the announcement in the
Rwandan capital, Kigali, where he pitched the potential of AFRICA as “a unified
tourism destination” for a continent that still relies on 60% of its tourists
from outside Africa, according to data from the United Nations Economic
Commission for Africa.
“Any African, can get on a plane to Rwanda whenever
they wish and they will not pay a thing to enter our country” said Kagame
during the 23rd Global Summit of the World Travel and Tourism Council.
Related Article:https://markneswin.blogspot.com/2023/10/inspiring-transformation-of-kigali
“We should not lose sight of our own continental
market," he said. "Africans are the future of global tourism as our
middle class continues to grow at a fast pace in the decades to come."
Once implemented, Rwanda will become the fourth
African country to remove travel restrictions for Africans. Other countries
that have waived visas to African nationals are Gambia, Benin and Seychelles.
Kenya’s President WilliamRuto announced Monday plans
to allow all Africans to travel to the East African nation visa-free by
December 31.
The African Passport and free movement of people is
"aimed at removing restrictions on Africans ability to travel, work and
live within their own continent,” The AU says on its website.
AU also launched the AfricanContinentalFreeTradeArea ,
a continent-wide free trade area estimated to be worth $3.4 trillion, which
aims to create a single unified market for the continent’s 1.4 billion people
and to boost economic development.
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