Calls for Africa to dismantle its rigid visa regimes grew louder on Monday, as campaigners accused governments of undermining the continent’s dream of unity and prosperity.
At a press conference in Abuja, Ras Mubarak, leader of the Trans-African Tourism and Unity Campaign, described the current state of travel within Africa as “a tragedy.”
Read also: Historic road trip across Africa to push for visa-free travel by 2030
He and his team are driving 40,000 kilometres through 39 African countries to press for a visa-free continent, but the irony is not lost on them: the very policies they want to end have already cost the group $11,800 in visa fees.
“That money could have been used for fuel, food or even souvenirs along the way,” Mubarak said.
According to Mubarak, the continent is still weighed down by outdated, colonial-era visa restrictions that make Africans strangers to one another.
“Today in Africa, it is easier for a West African national to get a Schengen visa than it is to get visas to some Southern African countries,” he argued.
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For him, the situation is not just a bureaucratic hassle but a stumbling block to economic growth, tourism and even cultural understanding. “If we are trading more amongst ourselves, if we’re opening our borders and inviting each other into our respective countries, you can imagine the jobs that this would create. You can imagine the tourism revenue. You can imagine even understanding each other,” he said.
Mubarak praised Kenya and Benin for scrapping visa requirements for Africans and challenged others to follow suit.
“Kenya has decided to dismantle all visa requirements for all African nationals. And if Kenya can do it, what stops Ghana from doing it? What stops Nigeria from doing it?” he asked.
Ghana itself announced a visa-free policy for Africans in 2024, but implementation has stalled. Mubarak said he hoped it would be in full effect within the next two years.
Read also: Ghana backs continent-wide campaign for visa-free Africa
While policy frameworks such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) were designed to promote integration, Mubarak accused pan-African institutions of being unresponsive. His campaign has written to the AU, ECOWAS and the East African Community; only ECOWAS replied.
He also said governments were more eager to open their borders to Europeans and North Americans than to fellow Africans. “Africans are more excited and willing to give visas on arrival to Europeans and North Americans, than to allow their own African brothers and sisters to come into our respective countries,” he said.
Corruption at border posts is another barrier. The campaign has witnessed immigration officers demanding bribes even from travellers with valid papers.
Critics of open borders often cite security risks, but Mubarak dismissed those fears. “Nigerians haven’t flooded Benin. Nigerians haven’t overrun Ghana. The big brother of West Africa has not flooded its neighbours,” he said, calling such fears exaggerated.
Despite frustration with institutions, Mubarak insisted change will come through grassroots mobilisation and media pressure. “Change comes from the bottom. If we have got the masses on our side with a sufficient amount of pressure, we would eventually have this thing happen,” he said.
His campaign has already covered over 1,100 kilometres from Ghana through Togo and Benin, and will continue to Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and beyond before returning to Ghana in January 2026.
For now, the group’s road trip is both an adventure and a protest — a reminder that until Africa dismantles its visa walls, the dream of a united continent will remain out of reach.
