APA-Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) Member states of the East African regional bloc IGAD said they have finalised preparation to adopt a single electronic visa regime in a bid to foster economic cooperation and integration among its eight member states.
Members of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) offer little visa openness to each other on a reciprocal basis, according to the 2022 Africa Visa Openness Index in Africa.
Members are presently finalising protocols on the free movement of persons to change that with the regional bloc spearheading the push, IGAD Executive Secretary Workneh Gebeyehu said on Tuesday during the bloc’s consultative meeting.
Gebeyehu stressed the significance of having a unified visa in achieving regional integration.
“By facilitating seamless travel,” he said, “this initiative has the potential to catalyze transformative benefits across many and various dimensions and… will foster skill transfers and capital flows”.
He also said the initiative not only “aligns seamlessly with our core principles” but also “shall bring to life our policy instruments” such as the IGAD Protocols of Free Movement and Transhumance.
The bloc endorsed its protocol on the free movement of persons in 2022 and went on to form a technical working group to harmonize free movement regimes.
The consultative meeting sought to advance regional integration through free movement, aligning with African Union Agenda 2063 and the African the Continental Free Trade (AfCFTA).
“We’re paving the way for a crucial single visa system, akin to the Schengen or East African models,” ambassador of Ethiopia to Djibouti Berhanu Tsegaye said.
The ambassador expressed his country’s “full support” for creating a single visa system, “poised to enhance tourism, propel economic growth, and strengthen regional cooperation.”
MG/as/APA