It is time for a pan-African passport

The African Union is issuing a new electronic African passport to make travel on the continent much easier. The aim of the African Union is to establish visa-free travel for African citizens within their own continent by 2020.

Most Africans are required to have visas for over half of the countries on the continent. Only 13 African countries allow other Africans to enter without a visa or give visas on arrival. Quartz reports that having an African Union passport will help Africa into a continent with seamless borders, modelled after the European Union’s Schengen Area. 

Officials have been pushing for increased freedom of movement ever since the Organization of African Unity, a precursor to the AU, was established in the 1960s. The AU wants to abolish visa requirements for all African citizens visiting African countries by 2018, and establish a free trade area across the continent by 2017.

Further reading on qz.com