Visas in Africa barrier to trade and movement, says President Ruto
President William Ruto has urged African countries to rethink their visa regimes to boost intra Africa trade and position the continent for true transformation.
African governments, the president said, should facilitate “people-to-people, business-to-business and government-to-government affairs,” not create barriers.
“The people who introduced visas to Africa have abandoned them. In Europe today, citizens of the 27 countries in the European Union don’t need visas to travel from one country to the other,” he said.
He spoke on Thursday when he met President Emerson Mnangagwa’s special envoy, Ambassador Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, at State House Nairobi.
President Ruto said he will hold discussions with his Zimbabwean counterpart on visa-free regime between the two countries.
He also said they will discuss the need for more flights from Nairobi to Harare and vice versa.
President Ruto said Kenya opposes the continued economic sanctions against Zimbabwe, adding that they are unnecessary.
“At a time of economic difficulty, climate change effects and pandemics, sanctions only exacerbate the burden on the citizens of Zimbabwe,” he said.
