Africa will in May launch a continental diplomatic passport to be issued to heads of state and government, ministers, ambassadors and leaders of African institutions.

The symbolic launch of the African diplomatic passport by the African Union (AU) Commission will be the highlight of Africa Day celebrations in Ethiopia on 25 May.

Africa Day celebrates the day when the Organization of African Unity was formed in 1963. The OAU is the precursor to the AU.

According to AU Commission chairperson, Alpha Oumar Konaré, the introduction of the diplomatic passport is a symbol of African solidarity.

“Experts are presently addressing this symbolic decision,” said Konaré when addressing the 10th ordinary session of the AU Executive Council.

The executive council is the second strongest decision-making body of the AU after the Assembly of Heads of State and Government.

It comprises the ministers of foreign affairs or any other ministers designated by the governments of member states.

Konaré noted that “this document will be strictly reserved to heads of state, ministers, ambassadors and institutions’ officials in order to enable them to travel across the continent without the need for any visa.”

Under the current arrangement, heads of state and government, ministers and leaders of major institutions require visas to enter most African countries, except in cases where both countries have signed reciprocal visa exemption agreements.

The African diplomatic passport has been on the cards for the past two years and is viewed as a first step towards accelerating the free movement of persons, goods and services on the continent.

It will complement efforts by various African regions, including the Southern African Development Community (SADC), to introduce common visas that will facilitate easier and faster travel between countries of the same regional community.

The SADC Council of Ministers, which met in Lesotho in August 2006, resolved that visa exemption among member states should be the number one priority while countries prepare for the implementation of the SADC Protocol on the Facilitation of the Free Movement of Persons.

Implementation of the protocol, approved by SADC heads of state and government in Botswana in 2005, may take time as it involves a lot of decisions to be undertaken in relation to infrastructure, services and procedural systems.

Several SADC countries have already scrapped visa requirements for citizens from other member states. These include Mozambique, South Africa and Swaziland, whose citizens no longer require visas to enter any one of the countries.

The visa exemptions will be complemented by the introduction of a UNIVISA system, which will allow visitors from outside the region to use one visa to travel around the region.

SADC countries are at various stages of readiness for the successful implementation of the UNIVISA and visa exemption system.

Immigration, security, information technology, statistical and judiciary issues are some of the outstanding issues that need to be addressed by member states.

Constraints include the need to establish a standardised computer system at border posts and foreign embassies and harmonisation of immigration procedures across all countries in the region.

Visa exemptions for SADC citizens and the introduction of the UNIVISA system are being pursued vigorously ahead of South Africa’s hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. It is hoped that the UNIVISA will be in place by 2008 to facilitate smooth movement of soccer teams from outside the region and their supporters.

(sardc.net)

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