Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. (Photo: EPA)
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
May 28th, 2018
New York (TADIAS) — PM Abiy’s recent indication of a visa free entry to Ethiopia by all Africans has sparked a lively online conversation on the topic.
The PM made the comment while hosting the President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, in Addis Ababa this past weekend.
Rwanda is the first country in Africa to implement such a program.
“The President invited all Africans to travel to Rwanda without visas, we will follow you very soon,” Abyi said during a state banquet in honor of Kagame on Friday.
The website This is Africa pointed out: “While Prime Minister Abiy did not give specific details of the plan to allow all Africans to travel to Ethiopia without visas, the proposal is a laudable step to open Africa’s borders. The policy will open up the east African country to African visitors, and it will undoubtedly ease the free movement of African nationals and boost tourism.”
“The issuance of visa-on-arrival for all countries was widely celebrated by many across the continent, and on social media,” the website enthused. “The announcement by Prime Minister Abiy is indeed laudable and demonstrates that African countries are beginning to act on the implementation of the African Union’s (AU) 2063 Agenda for “a continent with seamless borders” to help facilitate the free movement of African citizens.”
Africa News added: “For a country that is widely seen as not open in respect of visa acquisition, the disclosure by the PM has been received with different reaction…Whiles most people expressed joy at the idea, others also had concerns with respect to security and for one commenter, the state of the capital Addis Ababa – stressing the incidence of street dwelling and lack of basic amenities.”
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