Three Day Consultative Meeting With the Secretariats of Regional Economic Communities to Develop a Continental Strategy to Accelerate the Right of Entry as Enshrined in the Protocol to the Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community Relating to Free Movement of Persons, Right of Residence and Right of Establishment Opens

MALABO, July 23, 2019: A Three-day consultative meeting with the Secretariats of the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) to develop a continental strategy for the acceleration of the Right of entry for the Protocol to the treaty establishing the African Economic Communities Relating to the Free Movement of Persons, Right of residence and right of establishment has opened in Malabo.

Free Movement of Persons is an integral part of Agenda 2063 and the Abuja treaty of 1991 establishing the African Economic Community. Free Movement and African passport is one of the 14 flagship projects of Agenda 2063. Executive Council Decision of January 2016 in Mekele, further affirms the commitment to free movement of persons and goods. The decision also reinforces the Assembly Decision of June 2015.

Speaking on behalf of the Commissioner for Political Affairs, H.E. Minata Samate Cessouma, the Director of Political Affairs, Dr Khabele Matlosa, said the protocol was adopted by the Assembly of the African Union in Addis Ababa in 2018 along with its Implementation Roadmap. He highlighted that the implementation of the Protocol will evolve through three phases namely, right of entry, right of residence and right of establishment. The introduction of the African passport will act as a major catalyst for the Protocol especially the right of entry. The Guidelines for the Design, Production and Issuance of the African Passport were adopted during the February 2019 Summit.

He said the protocol has so far been signed by 33 Member States, Four ratifications deposited by Rwanda, Niger, Mali and Sao Tome & Principe have been deposited. Technical specifications of the African Passport were developed in collaboration with International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), International Organisation for Migration (IOM), RECs and Member States’ experts responsible for immigration, customs, home affairs, Justice and security. A continental meeting with Heads of Intelligence Services was also held in collaboration with the Interpol to grapple with the security challenges related to free movement especially in light of heightened terrorism and violent extremism.

He said one of the objectives of the Protocol is to remove Visa restrictions on Africans in order to facilitate movement by African citizens within their Continent. He concluded that the three-day meeting will allow the RECs to have a common understanding of the right of entry, develop a strategy for accelerating implementation of phase one of the free movement protocol on right of entry and sustaining the momentum on the popularization of the protocol.

Dr Matlosa said aspiration 2, of Agenda 2063 envisions ``an integrated continent, politically united and based on the ideals of Africa’s renaissance, and by 2063, Africa shall be a continent with seamless borders, and management of cross-border resources through dialogue where free movement of people, capital, goods and services will result in significant countries and strengthen Africa’s place in global trade.

He identified some of the challenges of free movement of persons in Africa as slow rate of ratification by Member States, building consensus around security issues in regards to the ``Right of entry’’, nomination of champion to keep the momentum and interest of the subject at the centre, and identifying the link between Free Movement of Persons in Africa and the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which was launched by the African Heads of state in July 2019 in Niamey, Republic of Niger.

Dr Matlosa urged the meeting to develop strategies that will define clearly the role of RECs, AU and Member States in order to ensure that the Right of Entry becomes a reality, unpack the right of entry as it pertains to specific groups of travelers, harmonization of laws and policies and Visa regimes and to maintain pressure on the RECs on matters related to free movement and the implementation roadmap and the domestication of the protocol by their Member States.

For further information please contact:

Mr. Yusuf Muhammed | Knowledge Management and Communications Officer
Department of Political Affairs | Mohammedy@africa-union.org | Tel: +2511155177 00

For further information contact
Directorate of Information and Communication | African Union Commission I E-mail: dic@africa-union.org I Web Site: www.au.int I Addis Ababa | Ethiopia

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