Introduction.
African policymakers and development institutions have renewed calls for visa-free travel across the continent, framing free movement as vital for economic transformation under the African Continental Free Trade Area. At a high-level symposium co-hosted by the African Development Bank Group and the African Union Commission in Addis Ababa, participants highlighted that restrictive visa regimes—where African citizens require visas for an average of 60% of countries—continue to hinder trade, investment, tourism, and labour mobility. Leaders, including Alex Mubiru, Amma Twum-Amoah, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, and Ghana’s Trade Minister, emphasised that visa openness, interoperable digital systems, and integrated markets are essential to unlocking regional value chains, enterprise, and innovation. Ethiopian Airlines’ CEO Mesfin Bekele and regional bodies stressed that aviation connectivity must accompany visa liberalisation, while campaigns like ‘Make Africa Borderless Now’ and AU protocols were cited as pathways to seamless intra-African travel.
Conferences and Events
The African Development Bank Group co-hosted the Airlines, Capital and Connectivity Forum on 25–26 February 2026 in Nairobi and online to launch the Integrated Aviation Transformation Program (IATP), a continental platform for modernising and financing Africa’s aviation sector. Anchored by a $7 billion Aviation Financing and Connectivity Facility (AFCF) and aligned with the African Union’s $30 billion Continental Aviation Infrastructure Investment Plan, the IATP aimed to mobilise private and institutional capital to create a safe, competitive, and climate-aligned aviation ecosystem. The forum brought together transport ministers, airline executives, financiers, insurers, cargo operators, and logistics stakeholders to present the IATP structure, discuss operational needs and financing solutions, advance pilot projects, and strengthen cooperation across Africa’s aviation sector to enhance connectivity, competitiveness, and regional integration under the African Continental Free Trade Area and Single African Air Transport Market frameworks.
AOCs/ASLs/Regulations.
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