“The African path should be gradual, pragmatic, and based first on concrete regional results,” argues Francisco Xavier Pedro, who rejects copying the European model, which should serve only as inspiration.
Angola is among the few countries that “have made commendable efforts” to improve intracontinental mobility, Ben Crumpton told Expansão. Angola is highlighted in the report as a strong performer, alongside Sierra Leone, which has granted visa-free access to 20 countries since 2024.
In Angola’s case, the country currently grants visa-free access to 18 African nations, compared to only 10 in 2023, and “announced simplified bureaucratic procedures for visa issuance, both at consular facilities and through the electronic visa portal, guaranteeing processing in less than three working days for both,” according to the senior researcher at the Mo Ibrahim Foundation.
Adopted in 2019, the Protocol on the Free Movement of Persons (PFMP) allows African citizens to travel, live, and work freely among member states. The objective is to boost integration, economic growth, and social cohesion by removing visa requirements, facilitating the mutual recognition of rights, and allowing citizens to relocate or establish businesses in other African countries.
The protocol provides for a phased approach: visa-free entry, the right of residence, and finally the right to establish a business or practice a profession.
“The free movement of people within the continent — for example, within EU member states — is an essential component of any single market. Limited ratification restricts the number of countries between which African citizens can travel freely, thereby limiting market availability and opportunities,” Ben Crumpton emphasized, downplaying the impact of phenomena such as xenophobic violence in South Africa. At most, it may have a “deterrent effect on some nationalities travelling to South Africa,” potentially triggering mutual retaliatory actions.
Francisco Xavier Pedro believes African countries have more to gain economically from internal mobility “provided it is well regulated,” and can use the European Union model “as inspiration,” but not as a copy.
“The European experience shows that integration requires strong institutions, economic convergence, compensation funds, common rules, and political trust. Africa can learn from that model, but it must build its own integration framework, suited to its historical, demographic, economic, and institutional diversity. The African path should be gradual, pragmatic, and grounded first in concrete regional results,” he argues.
With well-defined, properly implemented, and carefully monitored rules, Francisco Pedro believes the gains outweigh the losses, since free movement “can increase intra-African trade, facilitate the movement of workers, reduce transaction costs, stimulate small businesses, and strengthen regional value chains.”
However, if poorly managed, it “can increase social tensions, pressure on public services, and labour-related fears.” The problem, he insists, “is not mobility itself, but the absence of effective governance.”
“In summary, free movement in Africa should not be viewed as idealistic naivety, but as a strategic necessity. The continent loses significantly through the fragmentation of markets, borders, and opportunities.
However, integration will only be sustainable if accompanied by security, administrative capacity, effective reciprocity, and public policies that reduce the social costs of mobility,” he concludes.
Source: Expansão
