by SAVIOUS KWINIKA

JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – AFRICA’S long-standing dream of unity is steadily gaining momentum as more countries dismantle visa barriers and embrace the idea of free movement across the continent.

From West to East and South to North, African nations are increasingly aligning with a Pan-African vision that imagines one Africa with one capital city, one currency, one president, one parliament, one constitution, one court, one police service and one military, anchored in shared destiny and collective strength.

The renewed conversation follows Benin’s landmark decision to allow visa-free entry for all African citizens.

The West African nation’s move has been widely praised as a practical step toward continental integration rather than mere rhetoric.

International journalist Larry Madowo underscored the significance of the decision, stating, “No African needs a visa to visit Benin.”

He added pointedly, “In fact, they get offended if your stay is too short.”

The message was clear: Africans belong in Africa.

Benin’s policy is not isolated. Kenya has removed visa requirements for Africans, replacing them with a simple electronic travel authorisation.

Rwanda, Ghana, Seychelles, The Gambia, Mauritius, Cape Verde, Senegal and Morocco have also adopted visa-free or visa-on-arrival regimes for African travellers.

These policies reflect a growing recognition that borders inherited from colonialism continue to undermine African progress and unity.

The push for visa-free travel is closely tied to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), one of the most ambitious economic projects in modern history.

AfCFTA seeks to create a single African market of over 1.4 billion people, remove trade barriers, boost intra-African trade, industrialisation, job creation, and reduce dependence on foreign markets.

Free movement of people is a natural partner to free movement of goods and services. Trade cannot thrive where Africans are treated as foreigners on their own continent.

Pan-African leaders and thinkers have long warned that Africa’s fragmentation is its greatest weakness.

Ghana’s founding president Kwame Nkrumah famously declared, “Africa must unite or perish.”

Libya’s former leader Muammar Gaddafi repeatedly argued that Africa’s resources, population and landmass could only be protected through a United States of Africa with a single government and defense system.

More recently, African intellectuals, youth movements and civil society groups have revived these calls, insisting that unity is no longer optional in a world defined by powerful blocs and unforgiving global competition.

In an era of economic shocks, climate crises, conflict and tightening immigration regimes worldwide, Africa’s survival depends on solidarity.

A continent divided into 54 competing states remains vulnerable; a united Africa speaks with authority, trades with confidence, and defends itself with dignity.

One Africa would mean African passports respected globally, African currencies backed by African resources, and African solutions to African problems.

As visa barriers fall and trade links deepen, Africa stands at a historic crossroads.

The dream of one Africa—politically, economically and socially united—is no longer a fantasy. It is a necessity whose time has come.

– CAJ News