Zimbabwe and Botswana agree on passport-free travel
The governments of Zimbabwe and Botswana are set to eliminate passport requirements for travel between the two nations.
The SADC nations look to implement a no-border restrictions policy that would allow nationals from both countries to travel between the two nations without documents.
President Mokgweetsi Masisi of Botswana and President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe came to this agreement following President Mnangagwa’s visit to Botswana on December 7 for the fifth annual Kusi Ideas Festival, a pan-African conference to foster collaboration between African nations towards the continent's 2063 development agenda.
“That should be cleared. The two of us have agreed, realising that we are African. We should be able to walk into Botswana, walk into Zambia, walk into Kenya. We have just agreed while sitting that ‘my brother, why do we restrict ourselves? Somebody said in the past when we were all together, the Global North came and made boundaries,” President Mnangagwa told reporters.
“So why should we continue to respect this, let us open the borders among ourselves and move freely,” he added.
There has been a wave of African leaders calling for the ease of travel restrictions between African states. Countries like Rwanda and Kenya have made decisions to allow visa-free entries for all African nationals.
A move Rwandan President Paul Kagame at the 23rd Global Summit of the World Travel and Tourism Council said could position Africa at the centre of the global tourism market.
