Obi Chigozie Ogochukwu

THE UNITED STATES OF AFRICA- THE CONCEPT OF A BORDERLESS AFRICA. Lying at the heart of the 2063 African Union Agenda is the concept of promoting freer movement of people across the different African states for the purpose of deepening regional integration, strengthening connectivity and driving talent mobility. The African Union (A.U.) is pursuing a path of closer integration through the launch of a common e-passport which will grant visa-free access to all 54 member states. The passport which was introduced at the 27th ordinary session of the Assembly of the A.U. summit in Kigali, Rwanda represents a landmark achievement of the commission which emphasizes the need for greater continental integration, drawing on the popular vision of Pan-African Unity. Freedom of movement has been a long standing priority among member states and is anchored on the attainment of the objectives of the African Union Agenda 2063 which includes but is not limited to developing an industrial, peaceful and prosperous Africa. To achieve these objectives, the A.U. identified a few projects which would facilitate the achievement of the agenda in 10 years. These projects include an integrated high speed train network, a single African aviation market and the African passport. Reports from the African Development bank advise that easing entrance requirements would support economic growth , citing the case of Rwanda and Mauritius which saw GDP and tourism revenues climb after abolishing visas. In accordance with the 2063 Agenda, there will be a single AU passport which will permit shared development among African nations. There is a lot of anticipation of positive and developmental changes, however most striking is the vision of a border-less Africa with prospects that come 2018 regional interaction and integration will be promoted by abolishing visa requirements for all African citizens. This is an underlying concept which obtains its ground in the spirit of Pan Africanism which at its core has a firm belief that the fate of all African peoples and countries are intertwined. Pan Africanism stresses the need for a collective self-reliance and united African nations will have the economic, political and social clout to act and compete on the world stage as do other large entities such as the European Union and the United States of America. It is also hoped that the common passport will support international trade within the continent, mobilize Africa’s vast resources to strengthen the region’s self-reliance, global economic power and solidarity, creating a common market spanning the continent thereby reducing widespread dependence on western goods and offer new opportunities to many citizens. This borderless yet restrictive Africa will be a lot of benefit for the African peoples as, in alliance with African ideals; this step will be a starting point in unifying African nations for the better. Organizations such as SCHENGEN and ECOWAS are prototypes of the single African Union passport concept. Through an adequately regulated means, Africa gets to have more access to their motherland, enjoying free movement, easier commercial activities and indeed fully witnessing Africa’s unity in diversity. Despite the manifest benefits of this concept, it is not however without its challenges and weaknesses. One of the most striking challenge borders on issue of security. Given the times we are in, some African nations such as Nigeria and South Africa have had an overdose of terrorist and xenophobic attacks. As a measure to check this, being liberal with the borders might not be the right step to take as it concerns national security. The issue of open borders risks strengthening terror groups and organized crime as this would make it easier for terrorists to move within and between countries. Human traffickers and drug smugglers could also take advantage of the new system. Health wise, African nations run a high risk of having diseases and other public health related crisis spreading more rapidly in a borderless Africa. Socio-economic challenge is another challenge which will confront the introduction of the e-passport. Most countries prefer to maintain their unique passports because it is a strong symbol of sovereignty which they believe shouldn’t be dispensed with. This is also hinged on the fact that visa revenue is also an important source of income for some countries and the idea of removing that source will affect the local economy except some compensation plan is put up. As characterized in the European Union, the e-passport may also intensify competition for jobs and public services leading to more xenophobic attacks. Migration is also a contentious issue as characterized by the heated debates over Refugees in Kenya and the immigrant riots in South Africa where there is a wide spread perception that foreigners are taking too many jobs meant for the locals. This is a direct consequence of massive capital and skills flight to a select country with potential viable and strong economies within the continent, thereby helping stronger nations get massively rich and making weaker nations poorer by the day. Also included are legal challenges, as it is argued that a lack of legal framework might impede the aim of the passport. This is because member states are not bound to allow free movement of people into their country without visas. There has been no signed treaty ratified by member states accepting the concept of a continental free movement of people, therefore the issuance of the e-passport has no legal base to it. A declaration by Heads of States has no legal effect in the different countries as each country has a rule and mechanism for giving effect to such agreements. Nigeria has in Section 12 of its Constitution, a provision that no treaty between the Federation and any other country shall have the force of law except and until such treaty has been enacted into law by the National Assembly. The objective of this passport is the free movement of people within Africa visa free, it is however important to have a legal certainty in this kind of issue especially at this age where there are so many security issues which necessitates the need to be certain as to who has a legal right to cross borders into countries. The European Union offers a model that the African Union can use to study both the progress and pitfalls of regional integration: balancing economies of vastly different sizes and structures, building solidarity within and across culturally diverse nations is a herculean task and the British exit from the European Union (Brexit) is a reminder of the varying challenges inherent in a shared political and economic space. These are issues that would only be magnified in Africa under the weight of industrializing economies, significant barriers to access in education and health care and ongoing conflicts over resources and identity. An African passport is an exciting development that can spur growth and improve living standards. It is however pertinent to note that a lot of African countries are not democratically and economically stable because we have a very strong sense of ethnocentrism and tribalism with strong religious divides as well. Africans identify with all these before any other thing and this creates no room for liberal ideas to thrive, hence The A.U. faces a lot of challenges in ensuring that the e-passport lives up to its potential. To capitalize on this, the African Union will need to take proactive steps by crafting regulations which will be essential to ensuring the e-passport’s economic potential is genuinely available to everyone and not subject to abuse. Implementation plans must address practical obstacles such as weak civil regulation systems, corruption, democracy and rule of law, slow and expensive bureaucratic procedures, strengthening sub-regional agreements and ensuring adequate security measures across various countries otherwise the aim of the passport will never be achieved.