What Does the AU Passport Mean for Intra-African Air Travel?

July 13, 2016  | Written by Valerie Silva

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APEX Insight: As the European Union risks coming undone in the wake of last month’s historic Brexit vote, the African Union (AU) is pushing forward with plans to boost free movement on the continent. Will this week’s launch of a single AU passport jumpstart the AU’s “Agenda 2063,” a 50-year plan for collective action?

Last month, the African Union (AU) announced that it would be seeking greater regional integration through the introduction of a common e-passport that would grant visa-free access to passport holders from all 54 member states. The passports were unveiled on Sunday at the 27^th AU Summit in Kigali, Rwanda, with heads of state, foreign ministers and permanent representatives of AU member states as the first to pilot the project, which, according to an AU press release, is slated to come into full effect by 2020. Only 13 countries on the African continent currently allow Africans entry without advanced visas, and millions of Africans are unable to secure legal identification, a precondition for obtaining a passport. “[It’s] a steady step toward the objective of creating a strong, prosperous and integrated Africa, driven by its own citizens and capable of taking its rightful place on the world stage,” says Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, chair of the AU Commission.

“[It’s] a steady step toward the objective of creating a strong, prosperous and integrated Africa, driven by its own citizens and capable of taking its rightful place on the world stage.” €” Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, AU Commission.

More of the Same?

According to a statement released by the union, “The specific aim [of the passport is] facilitating free movement of persons, goods and services around the continent – in order to foster intra-Africa trade, integration and socio-economic development.” However, this isn’t the first time African officials seek wide-scale integration: In 1999, 44 African states adopted the Yamoussoukro Decision (YD), which aimed to liberalize intra-African air transport services, promote fair competition and ensure compliance with international safety standards. Unfortunately, the YD has only been partially applied – like most other continent-wide agreements – with 10 of 54 African countries having yet to sign the 17-year-old agreement and many signatories themselves reluctant to introduce the measures due to excessive red tape, insufficient cooperation between member states, lack of infrastructure and discrepancies in social, political and economic growth across the continent.

Indeed, the single passport will eliminate the onerous task of having to secure a visa, but inaccessibility will remain the operative word when it comes to intra-African travel until African carriers are able to overcome excessive regulatory intervention, disproportionate surcharges in fuel and what the International Air Transport Association (IATA) deems “unnecessary restrictions on establishing air routes.” At the moment, it is generally less expensive to travel to destinations outside of the continent than it is for Africans to make their way to a neighbouring nation. An Internet search shows that a flight from Dakar, Senegal, to Monrovia, Liberia, a distance of roughly 1,112 miles, totals about 30 percent more than a flight from Dakar to Rome, Italy – even though the latter represents a 70 percent jump in distance traveled. The exorbitant price tags attached to intra-African flights have been attributed to the lack of open sky agreements in Western and Central Africa, where many state-owned carriers have collapsed and where there are few major air transport hubs.

Prying Open the African Skies

If the uptake of the YD has been slow, it isn’t for lack of proof of the benefits it would bring to the continent. After South Africa opened its market to Kenyan airlines in 2000, the number of passengers jumped by 69 percent, and after South Africa struck a bilateral accord with Zambia in 2013, cost of travel between the countries plummeted by almost 40 percent. A study by IATA predicts that if just 12 of Africa’s member states opened their skies to each other, fares would drop by 35 percent, an additional 155,000 jobs would be created, and GDP would rise by $1.3 billion. Liberalization has gained traction in Kenya, South Africa, Ethiopia and other African countries over the last few years, but given the dilatory implementation of the YD, it will likely continue on a bilateral ­- not multilateral – basis for the time being.

“IATA urges all African nations to expedite its implementation, which will stimulate economic growth and development with at least 5 million more passenger journeys a year on the continent.” €” IATA Press Release

The AU passport is one peg toward integration in the intra-African sector, but it will mean little for regional tourism without the realization of the YD, which, according to IATA, “will stimulate economic growth and development with at least 5 million more passenger journeys a year on the continent.” As the AU plods forward with plans for EU-style unity, Brexit may serve as evidence of the inherent complications of regional integration; for disputes over immigration, national sovereignty, and overregulation will likely only be amplified in a continent as socially, politically and economically heterogeneous as Africa.