Championing a visa-free Africa

At its 1964 meeting in Cairo, the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), the forerunner of the African Union (AU), passed a resolution on the inviolability of colonial borders, pledging to respect the inherited boundaries that existed at independence. The meeting adopted a principle of international law expressed in Latin as uti possidetis, meaning “as you possess, so you may continue to possess”. African leaders acknowledged that the borders were arbitrary lines drawn as tools of colonial control, with no regard for language, culture, customs or kinship.

Therefore, the resolution was not an endorsement of colonial cartography. It was a realistic response to a fragile moment in history. Faced with the real risk that territorial disputes could spiral into endless conflict and derail the project of African emancipation, the OAU chose stability as a necessary foundation for freedom.

It was about peace over perfection. Across the continent, Africans have long seen themselves as one people and borders as little more than lines on a map. “We are one people” is a common refrain heard from political leaders and citizens whose lives, families and livelihoods have always transcended state boundaries.

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For instance, the Chewa people stretch across Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique and share a heritage, language and customs. It is common for villages in African border towns to share a headman, a borehole, a market, a school or farming fields. That sense of Africanness is increasingly being expressed in policy.

A growing number of countries are adopting visa-free arrangements for fellow Africans, the latest being between Zambia and Ghana, announced last week during a state visit to Zambia by President John Dramani Mahama. As states loosen visa regimes for one another, they are performing a subtle but powerful act of historical correction. Visa-free policies do not erase borders but they do question their moral authority.

What we are witnessing is not a betrayal of the OAU decision but its evolution. That is why in championing a visa-free Africa, the AU says in its Agenda 2063 that “the physical and invisible barriers that have prevented the integration of Africa’s people need to be removed”.

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