11 ms·

With Launch of AU Passport, Africa Is Now Borderless

416 points by juanplusjuan 10y ago

the_duke 10y ago
Hmm. "Although, the passport is currently exclusive to government heads and diplomats, it is here to stay, even though it will take a while before it circulates among non-dignitaries." So well see if it ever goes beyond diplomats. --- Since the western media almost never reports anything on Africa, does anybody know how the AU is progressing? Are they pushing for a EU like model? What are it's goals and principles, and are they actually making progress? (Links welcome)
- akerro 10y ago
  >So well see if it ever goes beyond diplomats. Hope not, they will start killing each others very immediately. Every wondered why some borders are straight lines?
  - fooker 10y ago
    Like the Canada-US border ?
    - akerro 10y ago
      If Canada and US are in Africa and their borders where set by Europeans based on shares of diamonds, coal, gas, silver, gold or oil which is now shared by Shell or BP and you don't share ethnic groups, religions, traditions and you have 100x more ethnic groups than countries... then no. Not like in Canada-US. Did you know that some of those borders where made by Stalin just to provoke them, let them kill each other, provide them weaponry, so they could easily use their natural resources?
      - shitgoose 10y ago
        Stalin drew borders in Africa??? Which ones?:)
        finid 10y ago
        Probably the one between East Africa and Atlantis. OK, the guy was obviously referring to Europe, but just did a bad job of it.
        shitgoose 10y ago
        still, mixing up Yalta agreement and colonial borders in Africa... besides, it is not natural resources that Stalin was after.
    - backtoyoujim 10y ago
      /angrily glares at plate of poutine
    - Sharlin 10y ago
      The Canada-US border is straight for the same reason many African borders are straight, actually. It was also drawn by foreign colonialists who neither lived in the area nor cared about the opinion of the people who did live there.
      - rayiner 10y ago
        The Canada-US border was not imposed by colonial Britain. It was a compromise between the US and Britain after the American Revolution and War of 1812.
        Sharlin 10y ago
        In this context, the distinction between "the US" and "Britain" is entirely immaterial. People of European descent came, had some internal bickering, drew lines on maps, didn't care about the opinion of the people already living there.
        rayiner 10y ago
        By the time the US/Canada border was drawn, the majority of people "already living there" (90%) were of European descent.
        oblio 10y ago
        He does have a point. The border was straight because the people living there mostly (European descendants, the locals were already disenfranchised by that point) didn't give a crap about the border. I'm Romanian. Ask a Romanian what he'd think about straightening the border around Timisoara, thus giving it to Hungary. Many of those people would die rather than letting it happen. Those borders represent family possessions, cherished childhood memories, remnants of stories past that bond together people on either side of the border, etc. Normal, i.e. organic borders, are messy and rarely straight.
        cossatot 10y ago
        Yes, because native populations had been decimated by disease.
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  - curiousgal 10y ago
    I've never wondered why some border are straight lines actually. Care to elaborate?
    - allendoerfer 10y ago
      Colonialism.
    - DougBTX 10y ago
      http://everything2.com/title/Never+Trust+a+Straight+Line+on+a+Map http://everything2.com/title/Never+Trust+a+Straight+Line+on+... tl;dr, straight lines on maps are drawn for the convenience of the map maker, not as a representation of culture on the ground. Africa may be better off ignoring straight lines drawn by colonialists.
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      - umanwizard 10y ago
        Looking at the map linked from that page[1], practically none of the lines are straight (except for in the unpopulated desert in the north). Even countries that are specifically called out as examples in the text (like Nigeria) don't have straight-line borders. What am I missing? [1]: http://www.africaguide.com/images/africa_map.gif http://www.africaguide.com/images/africa_map.gif
    - quonn 10y ago
      They are straight, because 19th century colonialism created them.
  - jacalata 10y ago
    A straight line border is usually an indicator that it was artificially imposed by a group of people who had never been to the border being defined and did not give a shit about the existing cultural groupings that they were arbitrarily cutting into sections. Africa has a lot of them because it was colonised and split by European powers. Is that what you were looking for? And why on earth do you think that reducing the power of these artificial groupings would be a negative because of how artificial they are?
    - 13of40 10y ago
      Two things to bear in mind: First, most of the straight-line borders in Africa are in the north and cut through very sparsely inhabited desert [1]. Second, and perhaps more importantly, prior to the early 20th century, borders weren't typically controlled in the way they are now, so drawing a straight line though an inhabited area wouldn't affect much beyond taxes and other administrative issues. [1] http://www.catsg.org/cheetah/07_map-centre/7_1_entire-range/thematic-maps/human_density_africa_2000.png http://www.catsg.org/cheetah/07_map-centre/7_1_entire-range/...
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  - nxzero 10y ago
    Here's more analysis of the impact of Africa's existing borders: http://m.mgafrica.com/article/2015-01-09-africas-real-borders-are-not-where-you-think http://m.mgafrica.com/article/2015-01-09-africas-real-border...
  - finid 10y ago
    You mean like the way us Europeans have been killing ourselves for generations? We even fought two world wars over our differences. Give Africans a chance to catch up...
- Havoc 10y ago
  >Since the western media almost never reports anything on Africa, does anybody know how the AU is progressing? Slow progress, but progressing none the less. Seems to be poorly funded so their latest idea is to put an AU tax on all imports. The whole thing seems to lack direction beyond a vague desire to prove that Africa can be united like the "big boys" i.e. EU. The passport thing will take off I think. It'll take a while & cause serious security issues but I think they'll do it. >Are they pushing for a EU like model? They're copying some things, but don't seem to be doing the whole Brussels centralised power thing.
  - zorked 10y ago
    Europe is very homogenous and the EU is in a permanent state of crisis. If the AU tries anything like that they are dead the very same day.
    - Havoc 10y ago
      >If the AU tries anything like that they are dead the very same day. Don't think so. Things are much more resilient that side in the sense that working around things that don't work is just another normal day.
    - EGreg 10y ago
      Europe homogeneous? The USA is way more homogeneous. European countries have between them dozens of official languages and cultures.
      - smcl 10y ago
        That's the point. If the EU is more homogeneous and it has some serious issues, then a similar union in somewhere with even greater diversity may be prone to the same issues or worse (note: I'm just paraphrasing the poster for clarification - I'm not knowledgable enough on the AU to comment on whether this is true)
    - deskamess 10y ago
      It makes me wonder... would you be better off being heterogeneous group of states? That way you can accept your differences right away, and move on towards a common goal (economic union). When homogeneous its almost as if you have to look for some artificial differences (nit picking) to avoid admitting your similarities... "oh, no... we are not like them... we are different", and then subscribe to a union for the greater good (like an EU). And probably after getting a lot of unicorn concessions. I see the India model as being what Africa might end up getting. Many Indian states have their own distinct language, and often culture (food, etc). However India has a common currency. The easy part for India was that the states were defacto 'inherited into the union' at independence. For Africa it is going to be a 'subscribe into the economic union' with a lot of nationalistic arguments that are going to come into play. I am hoping a group of mostly stable countries band together and make it happen first. My founders list would be Namibia, Botswana, Angola, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Kenya. A nice list stretching from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean. These are moderate names, not often in the news and stable for the most part. If South Africa would join that would be a big win... but I am hoping one of the smaller countries takes leadership initially.
- deleted 10y ago
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- Animats 10y ago
  currently exclusive to government heads and diplomats This article in Smithsonian [1] says that the goal is to have it be available to ordinary citizens by 2020. It's not clear how this will work for Africa's 26 million refugees. [1] http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/common-africa-passport-to-allow-free-movement-across-continent-180959875/ http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/common-africa-passp...
  - daenney 10y ago
    According to the article: > Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma says that the body has agreed “to create the conditions for member states to issue the passport to their citizens, within their national policies, as and when they are ready.” In the article that the Smithsonian refers to: > That's only two years away, and lately the AU has been citing 2020 as the new start date for visa-free African travel. So far it's "they have cited 2020" which is quite a bit different from an actual statement that says that the goal is 2020 (I've yet to find that one). I've also not been able to find anything around members of the AU having committed to such or any date. Considering that in the speech mentioned in the article that was submitted they say "as and when they are ready." I would be surprised this would happen this quickly. It would be awesome if it did though.
    - prance 10y ago
      In 2014, it took 4 months for my wife's Kenyan passport to be renewed. Last year, she applied for a new ID card (to get her new family name on it), and she was able to collect it more than one year later. At least here in Kenya, I'm not going to hold my breath for the AU passport...
      - nojvek 10y ago
        Yeah I've had some bad experiences in Kenya too if you don't pay a bit "extra" to move things forward.
      - nsomaru 10y ago
        It used to be like this in South Africa, but they've implemented some new tech and you can get a passport in around a week. The new ID cards are even faster. I suspect this is not appreciated by many in and around the system because there was a whole industry that sprang up around the process (people to stand in lines for you, make the application, etc.) and now it's less likely that a bribe will be offered ;)
- finid 10y ago
  Following the EU model is a bad idea. Look at the mess that EU is right now. Why would any region want to go down that path? The ECOWAS model is much better.
  - astronautjones 10y ago
    What do you mean? The Schengen zone (what I think they meant by EU-model) is practically universally viewed as a good thing for tourism, travel, and business
    - sandstrom 10y ago
      This is an important point. You can be part of Schengen without being part of the European Union (and vice versa). Norway and Switzerland are part of Schengen, but not EU. Britain is part of the EU (for 1-2 years at least), but not part of Schengen. (Schengen is only about passport-less travel within the zone)
      - DasIch 10y ago
        Schengen is nice but not all that important. The single market is what is really important economically and that requires something like the EU.
        sandstrom 10y ago
        Yes, I totally agree. Travelling to the UK (at least as a European citizen) isn't more than an extra ~15 minutes at the airport. With the automated passport-machines (face-recognition) it's really quick. Not requiring a Visa a big timesaver though, but that's already the case amongst many countries. Though I'd say you can have a single market without much of the current EU-bureaucracy. They currently legislate about (and meddle in) a ton of things which aren't tied to a single market for labour, goods and services.
        patrickk 10y ago
- bogomipz 10y ago
  "Since the western media almost never reports anything on Africa, ..." This is untrue. Perhaps you should be more selective with your new sources. Read "The Economist", there is great and regularly reporting on Africa every week. The BBC also has great coverage of African current events. Lastly CNN also has the "Inside Africa" program, available on the web as well.
  - _nedR 10y ago
    Al-Jazeera English also has good coverage of Africa and other places in Asia, that popular international outlets give less attention to.
- tn13 10y ago
  Oh boy. I was like "how did I miss this big new" until your clarified this is some kind of privilege to the few powerful people. Nevertheless there will be system that will help people get this passport by paying the right price and eventually everyone will have it. Free movement of people is good thing if backed by free trade and lack of welfare else it will be bad people trying to live off other people's hard work.
- uyoakaoma 10y ago
  An EU like model is very scary.
  - andrepd 10y ago
    Why so?
- vixen99 10y ago
  BBC World in Europe provides a significant amount of air time everyday on African affairs.
- kriro 10y ago
  I have worked on the premises of the AU roughly 10 years ago (for a couple of month). I knew next to nothing about it before I worked there. They are pretty advanced from what I could tell. There's clear French and English blocks (+the Maghreb but they tend to side with the French block; +Angola which tends to side with the English block) and it's somewhat hilarious to see how these need to be balanced for most important issues but at the end of the day it's the same in the EU...I just never saw a system like that close up before. It was very notable that almost all people I spoke with were very passionate about the idea of a strong and united Africa. Having talked to some EU people there are a lot more bureaucrats and I get the feeling for some politicians it's the wasteland/failure if they get moved to an EU role instead of a national one. In the AU I got a very strong feeling that everyone was very happy to be there (and thought they could change things) and it was probably seen as more important than a role in the own government. Unfortunately that's the state of about 10 years ago. It's also notable that the difference between AU and surrounding country (there's also a UN complex in Addis which is similar to the AU) is rather strong. There's two amazing hotels in Addis (Sharaton and Hilton) and most of the city is fairly poor. The contrast is stark to say the least. The article also mentions a consultant from McKinsey...one of the things that I found very bothersome was that you basically had to work through consultants or local contacts to get anything done. I have met some rather shady characters and the big consultancies have carved out a nice little niche of "exclusive access".
neximo64 10y ago
Well it's not borderless, its just you don't need a visa for a fair number of days (1 week to 6 months) and it will not accompany the right to work or study. Currently very few African countries offer visa on arrival or electronic visas for other African countries' citizens. While it's not the same as the EU's version of a borderless union, it's a great step forward.
nn3 10y ago
The BBC coverage is much better on this (including a FAQ on common questions): http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-36823644 http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-36823644
zo1 10y ago
Could we perhaps change the click-baity title? Africa is far from borderless. This is just a PR promotion article, with a corresponding title.
- danjc 10y ago
  I really don't understand how this even gets upvoted on HN. It's barely worthy of mention in conventional news and I live in South Africa so if anyone should find it relevant I should!
  - Kinnard 10y ago
    Well, a borderless Africa would certainly be pertinent to the startup community. And this seems like an important step toward that.
    - danjc 10y ago
      I think archaic forex regulations are more of a blocker than free travel but what I meant is It can't be hard to agree to let diplomats travel easily. The impact is almost immaterial.
      - Kinnard 10y ago
        What forex regulations? How are they blockers? It certainly seems symbolic, and I imagine it will at least bring some level of greater simplicity to diplomats/dignitaries. That picture of the guy kissing the passport? I bet that wouldn't be happening if it were a meaningless non-milestone.
        danjc 10y ago
        Here's a quick overview of South African exchange control [1]. Another example is withholding tax which a number of African countries legislate. These are blockers because they create friction for small business that wants to expand into other African countries. 1. http://www.money-transfers.co.za/south-africa-exchange-control.php http://www.money-transfers.co.za/south-africa-exchange-contr...
goatsi 10y ago
A good article talking about the current issues traveling between African countries: http://qz.com/641025/the-trials-restrictions-and-costs-of-traveling-in-africa-if-youre-an-african/ http://qz.com/641025/the-trials-restrictions-and-costs-of-tr...
bogomipz 10y ago
From the AU Summit in Kigali, Rwanda: "One of the primary goals of the agenda is to guarantee integration and political unity in Africa and this passport will aid the body achieve that goal." Yet Paul Kagame has been President of Rwanda now for 16 years!!! Oh and this borderless AU is only available to the "ruling class." So African politics as usual. Nobody believes this nonsense. This is pure spin. If they really wanted to address jobs they would need to address the fact that their countries are increasingly selling their natural resources and labor to the Chinese. I was shocked when I saw Chinese laborers in coolies building roads in Ethiopia and a foreman barking at them in Mandarin. This is not an uncommon site in Kenya and the DRC either.
- finid 10y ago
  Africa is a complex problem. How do you think the Chinese manage to get access to every natural resource? Just bribe a leader and you're home free. But don't forget that we moved practically all our manufacturing industry to China, so that problem is not unique to Africa. The real problem is that when a "strongman" appears in an African country and tries to set things right, he's automatically a threat to former colonial powers, so we get rid of him. The French have ben doing it before we came on the scene, so getting rid of African strongmen is not our invention.
  - morgante 10y ago
    Yes, strong dictators have been great for African development. /s
    - finid 10y ago
      Actually, strong, nationalistic military leaders have been. There're, of course, corrupt, authoritarian leaders that decimated their countries, but those are not unique to Africa. Muammar Gaddafi was of that strong, nationalistic military type who was very good for his country, that is, until we decided he was too much of an impediment to our interests.
      - 10y ago
mrb 10y ago
The AU passport is part of Agenda 2063 which establishes many other ambitious goals: http://agenda2063.au.int/en/sites/default/files/agenda2063_popular_version_05092014_EN.pdf http://agenda2063.au.int/en/sites/default/files/agenda2063_p... So I want to create a reminded for Jan 1st, 2063 in my Google Calendar to "check if Africa has reached these goals". Unfortunately Calendar won't let me save events past year 2050 :-(
zingar 10y ago
The author clearly has no idea of Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma's history. She's a potentially powerful figure in South Africa's ruling ANC who is in a cushy job that is really political exile. As such, she's free to talk up ideas that sound great in The Economist (conservative macro-economics, zealous climate change action, consumer protection, gay rights, health laws) but never have to convince a single member of the electorate about their merits. Issues are somewhere between "don't care" and "when hell freezes over" in the electorate's mind. This particular issue is on the extreme end of frozen hell. Poor South Africans perceive foreigners as criminals and/or a direct threat to their livelihoods, and the tension regularly boils over into violence. There's plenty of room for nuance: the violence is extreme but it is a fact that we have an appalling history of (and in some cases ongoing) exploitation, including hiring seasonal foreign workers (illegally) for lower wages than locals. Regardless, nothing like the EU freedom of movement is ever going to happen. Republicans in the US are more likely to support Obama immigration reforms for Mexicans than South Africans would vote for millions of Congolese, Zimbabweans, Nigerians, Malawians, Sudanese migrants/refugees to be allowed to hold jobs here.
- zamalek 10y ago
  Disclaimer: all personal conclusions (derived from facts). It's just enough lip-service from the ANC to continue convincing the international community that they are in some way continuing Mandela's legacy. > South Africans would vote I would vote to allow it - if such a vote ever occurred. I think the example would be more similar to "Trump providing gratis working visas to Mexicans." The race rhetoric is one of the primary tools of the ANC[1][2], eliminating xenophobia[3] works against that. It is in the ANCs best interests to avoid properly implementing the AU passport if they want their regime to remain in power. [1]: http://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2016/07/14/Zuma-%E2%80%98does-not-understand-blacks-who-vote-for-the-DA%E2%80%99 http://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2016/07/14/Zuma-%E2%80%9... [2]: http://www.news24.com/elections/news/da-is-the-offspring-of-the-oppressor-zuma-20160720 http://www.news24.com/elections/news/da-is-the-offspring-of-... [3]: http://www.aljazeera.com/blogs/africa/2015/04/south-africa-xenophobia-150430224826901.html http://www.aljazeera.com/blogs/africa/2015/04/south-africa-x...
jpatokal 10y ago
Title is absurdly overhyped. As noted, this is currently limited to diplomats and heads of state (!). Talk is cheap in the AU, and even in the unlikely event that they do manage to "create the conditions for member states to issue the passport to their citizens", it's likely to end up a boondoggle like the APEC Business Travel Card: https://www.border.gov.au/Busi/Trav/APEC https://www.border.gov.au/Busi/Trav/APEC Which also grants visa-free travel to APEC economies, but only if you can fulfill a huge list of mostly arbitrary conditions that de facto make it impossible to apply for unless you're sitting in the C-suite of a listed company, have someone to do the paperwork for you and travel a lot.
- ajarmst 10y ago
  Agreed. Judging by the list of current territorial disputes in Africa (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_territorial_disputes#Africa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_territorial_disputes#A...), we're a ways from 'borderless'. Even in the EU, the refugee crisis has made it pretty clear that there are still quite a few borders that people are willing to kill and die over. I agree that improving human mobility and trade can have enormous value, but pretending that doing that is easy (or merely a matter of issuing press releases) does no one any favours.
- drawnwren 10y ago
  While your points about the AU Passport are probably correct, I know a very poor and normal American and Australian with the APEC cards. Neither are affiliated with any companies.
  - jpatokal 10y ago
    Dunno about the US, but unless your Oz friend is a high gov't official, that seems to be in contradiction with the posted guidelines: * * * You are either: * the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Financial Officer (CFO) or regional or country head of a registered business entity * an owner or director of a registered business entity * a Board member of a registered business entity * the CEO or CFO of an Australian-based business peak body * an employee of a registered business entity nominated by the CEO, CFO, regional head, owner or director of the organisation. * a senior government official – contact us for the eligibility requirements before you apply.
p1mrx 10y ago
But the AU country code is already taken by Australia. They should've gone with FU.
DavidWanjiru 10y ago
According to the bulk of the response I saw on African Twitter when this was announced, the simpler (and much cheaper) thing to do would be to remove visa restrictions for anyone with an African passport.
buyx 10y ago
Slightly OT, but The article alludes to xenophobic violence in South Africa. South Africa already has a de facto open borders policy and its local black population has been squeezed out of many business opportunities by people from the rest of Africa, as well as Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and China, and there are spasmodic eruptions of anti-foreigner violence. The similarities with Brexit and Trump are striking, and show something more complex is going on, than simple bigotry.
known 10y ago
"The greater the diversity in a community, the fewer people vote and the less they volunteer, the less they give to charity and work on community projects; In the most diverse communities, neighbors trust one another about half as much as they do in the most homogeneous settings." http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2007/08/05/the_downside_of_diversity/ http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2007/08/05/t...

416 points by juanplusjuan 10y ago

Hmm. "Although, the passport is currently exclusive to government heads and diplomats, it is here to stay, even though it will take a while before it circulates among non-dignitaries." So well see if it ever goes beyond diplomats. --- Since the western media almost never reports anything on Africa, does anybody know how the AU is progressing? Are they pushing for a EU like model? What are it's goals and principles, and are they actually making progress? (Links welcome)

akerro 10y ago
>So well see if it ever goes beyond diplomats. Hope not, they will start killing each others very immediately. Every wondered why some borders are straight lines?
- fooker 10y ago
  Like the Canada-US border ?
  - akerro 10y ago
    If Canada and US are in Africa and their borders where set by Europeans based on shares of diamonds, coal, gas, silver, gold or oil which is now shared by Shell or BP and you don't share ethnic groups, religions, traditions and you have 100x more ethnic groups than countries... then no. Not like in Canada-US. Did you know that some of those borders where made by Stalin just to provoke them, let them kill each other, provide them weaponry, so they could easily use their natural resources?
    - shitgoose 10y ago
      Stalin drew borders in Africa??? Which ones?:)
      - finid 10y ago
        Probably the one between East Africa and Atlantis. OK, the guy was obviously referring to Europe, but just did a bad job of it.
        shitgoose 10y ago
        still, mixing up Yalta agreement and colonial borders in Africa... besides, it is not natural resources that Stalin was after.
  - backtoyoujim 10y ago
    /angrily glares at plate of poutine
  - Sharlin 10y ago
    The Canada-US border is straight for the same reason many African borders are straight, actually. It was also drawn by foreign colonialists who neither lived in the area nor cared about the opinion of the people who did live there.
    - rayiner 10y ago
      The Canada-US border was not imposed by colonial Britain. It was a compromise between the US and Britain after the American Revolution and War of 1812.
      - Sharlin 10y ago
        In this context, the distinction between "the US" and "Britain" is entirely immaterial. People of European descent came, had some internal bickering, drew lines on maps, didn't care about the opinion of the people already living there.
        rayiner 10y ago
        By the time the US/Canada border was drawn, the majority of people "already living there" (90%) were of European descent.
        oblio 10y ago
        He does have a point. The border was straight because the people living there mostly (European descendants, the locals were already disenfranchised by that point) didn't give a crap about the border. I'm Romanian. Ask a Romanian what he'd think about straightening the border around Timisoara, thus giving it to Hungary. Many of those people would die rather than letting it happen. Those borders represent family possessions, cherished childhood memories, remnants of stories past that bond together people on either side of the border, etc. Normal, i.e. organic borders, are messy and rarely straight.
        cossatot 10y ago
        Yes, because native populations had been decimated by disease.
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- curiousgal 10y ago
  I've never wondered why some border are straight lines actually. Care to elaborate?
  - allendoerfer 10y ago
    Colonialism.
  - DougBTX 10y ago
    http://everything2.com/title/Never+Trust+a+Straight+Line+on+a+Map http://everything2.com/title/Never+Trust+a+Straight+Line+on+... tl;dr, straight lines on maps are drawn for the convenience of the map maker, not as a representation of culture on the ground. Africa may be better off ignoring straight lines drawn by colonialists.
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    - umanwizard 10y ago
      Looking at the map linked from that page[1], practically none of the lines are straight (except for in the unpopulated desert in the north). Even countries that are specifically called out as examples in the text (like Nigeria) don't have straight-line borders. What am I missing? [1]: http://www.africaguide.com/images/africa_map.gif http://www.africaguide.com/images/africa_map.gif
  - quonn 10y ago
    They are straight, because 19th century colonialism created them.
- jacalata 10y ago
  A straight line border is usually an indicator that it was artificially imposed by a group of people who had never been to the border being defined and did not give a shit about the existing cultural groupings that they were arbitrarily cutting into sections. Africa has a lot of them because it was colonised and split by European powers. Is that what you were looking for? And why on earth do you think that reducing the power of these artificial groupings would be a negative because of how artificial they are?
  - 13of40 10y ago
    Two things to bear in mind: First, most of the straight-line borders in Africa are in the north and cut through very sparsely inhabited desert [1]. Second, and perhaps more importantly, prior to the early 20th century, borders weren't typically controlled in the way they are now, so drawing a straight line though an inhabited area wouldn't affect much beyond taxes and other administrative issues. [1] http://www.catsg.org/cheetah/07_map-centre/7_1_entire-range/thematic-maps/human_density_africa_2000.png http://www.catsg.org/cheetah/07_map-centre/7_1_entire-range/...
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- nxzero 10y ago
  Here's more analysis of the impact of Africa's existing borders: http://m.mgafrica.com/article/2015-01-09-africas-real-borders-are-not-where-you-think http://m.mgafrica.com/article/2015-01-09-africas-real-border...
- finid 10y ago
  You mean like the way us Europeans have been killing ourselves for generations? We even fought two world wars over our differences. Give Africans a chance to catch up...
Havoc 10y ago
>Since the western media almost never reports anything on Africa, does anybody know how the AU is progressing? Slow progress, but progressing none the less. Seems to be poorly funded so their latest idea is to put an AU tax on all imports. The whole thing seems to lack direction beyond a vague desire to prove that Africa can be united like the "big boys" i.e. EU. The passport thing will take off I think. It'll take a while & cause serious security issues but I think they'll do it. >Are they pushing for a EU like model? They're copying some things, but don't seem to be doing the whole Brussels centralised power thing.
- zorked 10y ago
  Europe is very homogenous and the EU is in a permanent state of crisis. If the AU tries anything like that they are dead the very same day.
  - Havoc 10y ago
    >If the AU tries anything like that they are dead the very same day. Don't think so. Things are much more resilient that side in the sense that working around things that don't work is just another normal day.
  - EGreg 10y ago
    Europe homogeneous? The USA is way more homogeneous. European countries have between them dozens of official languages and cultures.
    - smcl 10y ago
      That's the point. If the EU is more homogeneous and it has some serious issues, then a similar union in somewhere with even greater diversity may be prone to the same issues or worse (note: I'm just paraphrasing the poster for clarification - I'm not knowledgable enough on the AU to comment on whether this is true)
  - deskamess 10y ago
    It makes me wonder... would you be better off being heterogeneous group of states? That way you can accept your differences right away, and move on towards a common goal (economic union). When homogeneous its almost as if you have to look for some artificial differences (nit picking) to avoid admitting your similarities... "oh, no... we are not like them... we are different", and then subscribe to a union for the greater good (like an EU). And probably after getting a lot of unicorn concessions. I see the India model as being what Africa might end up getting. Many Indian states have their own distinct language, and often culture (food, etc). However India has a common currency. The easy part for India was that the states were defacto 'inherited into the union' at independence. For Africa it is going to be a 'subscribe into the economic union' with a lot of nationalistic arguments that are going to come into play. I am hoping a group of mostly stable countries band together and make it happen first. My founders list would be Namibia, Botswana, Angola, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Kenya. A nice list stretching from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean. These are moderate names, not often in the news and stable for the most part. If South Africa would join that would be a big win... but I am hoping one of the smaller countries takes leadership initially.
deleted 10y ago
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Animats 10y ago
currently exclusive to government heads and diplomats This article in Smithsonian [1] says that the goal is to have it be available to ordinary citizens by 2020. It's not clear how this will work for Africa's 26 million refugees. [1] http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/common-africa-passport-to-allow-free-movement-across-continent-180959875/ http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/common-africa-passp...
- daenney 10y ago
  According to the article: > Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma says that the body has agreed “to create the conditions for member states to issue the passport to their citizens, within their national policies, as and when they are ready.” In the article that the Smithsonian refers to: > That's only two years away, and lately the AU has been citing 2020 as the new start date for visa-free African travel. So far it's "they have cited 2020" which is quite a bit different from an actual statement that says that the goal is 2020 (I've yet to find that one). I've also not been able to find anything around members of the AU having committed to such or any date. Considering that in the speech mentioned in the article that was submitted they say "as and when they are ready." I would be surprised this would happen this quickly. It would be awesome if it did though.
  - prance 10y ago
    In 2014, it took 4 months for my wife's Kenyan passport to be renewed. Last year, she applied for a new ID card (to get her new family name on it), and she was able to collect it more than one year later. At least here in Kenya, I'm not going to hold my breath for the AU passport...
    - nojvek 10y ago
      Yeah I've had some bad experiences in Kenya too if you don't pay a bit "extra" to move things forward.
    - nsomaru 10y ago
      It used to be like this in South Africa, but they've implemented some new tech and you can get a passport in around a week. The new ID cards are even faster. I suspect this is not appreciated by many in and around the system because there was a whole industry that sprang up around the process (people to stand in lines for you, make the application, etc.) and now it's less likely that a bribe will be offered ;)
finid 10y ago
Following the EU model is a bad idea. Look at the mess that EU is right now. Why would any region want to go down that path? The ECOWAS model is much better.
- astronautjones 10y ago
  What do you mean? The Schengen zone (what I think they meant by EU-model) is practically universally viewed as a good thing for tourism, travel, and business
  - sandstrom 10y ago
    This is an important point. You can be part of Schengen without being part of the European Union (and vice versa). Norway and Switzerland are part of Schengen, but not EU. Britain is part of the EU (for 1-2 years at least), but not part of Schengen. (Schengen is only about passport-less travel within the zone)
    - DasIch 10y ago
      Schengen is nice but not all that important. The single market is what is really important economically and that requires something like the EU.
      - sandstrom 10y ago
        Yes, I totally agree. Travelling to the UK (at least as a European citizen) isn't more than an extra ~15 minutes at the airport. With the automated passport-machines (face-recognition) it's really quick. Not requiring a Visa a big timesaver though, but that's already the case amongst many countries. Though I'd say you can have a single market without much of the current EU-bureaucracy. They currently legislate about (and meddle in) a ton of things which aren't tied to a single market for labour, goods and services.
        patrickk 10y ago
bogomipz 10y ago
"Since the western media almost never reports anything on Africa, ..." This is untrue. Perhaps you should be more selective with your new sources. Read "The Economist", there is great and regularly reporting on Africa every week. The BBC also has great coverage of African current events. Lastly CNN also has the "Inside Africa" program, available on the web as well.
- _nedR 10y ago
  Al-Jazeera English also has good coverage of Africa and other places in Asia, that popular international outlets give less attention to.
tn13 10y ago
Oh boy. I was like "how did I miss this big new" until your clarified this is some kind of privilege to the few powerful people. Nevertheless there will be system that will help people get this passport by paying the right price and eventually everyone will have it. Free movement of people is good thing if backed by free trade and lack of welfare else it will be bad people trying to live off other people's hard work.
uyoakaoma 10y ago
An EU like model is very scary.
- andrepd 10y ago
  Why so?
vixen99 10y ago
BBC World in Europe provides a significant amount of air time everyday on African affairs.
kriro 10y ago
I have worked on the premises of the AU roughly 10 years ago (for a couple of month). I knew next to nothing about it before I worked there. They are pretty advanced from what I could tell. There's clear French and English blocks (+the Maghreb but they tend to side with the French block; +Angola which tends to side with the English block) and it's somewhat hilarious to see how these need to be balanced for most important issues but at the end of the day it's the same in the EU...I just never saw a system like that close up before. It was very notable that almost all people I spoke with were very passionate about the idea of a strong and united Africa. Having talked to some EU people there are a lot more bureaucrats and I get the feeling for some politicians it's the wasteland/failure if they get moved to an EU role instead of a national one. In the AU I got a very strong feeling that everyone was very happy to be there (and thought they could change things) and it was probably seen as more important than a role in the own government. Unfortunately that's the state of about 10 years ago. It's also notable that the difference between AU and surrounding country (there's also a UN complex in Addis which is similar to the AU) is rather strong. There's two amazing hotels in Addis (Sharaton and Hilton) and most of the city is fairly poor. The contrast is stark to say the least. The article also mentions a consultant from McKinsey...one of the things that I found very bothersome was that you basically had to work through consultants or local contacts to get anything done. I have met some rather shady characters and the big consultancies have carved out a nice little niche of "exclusive access".

neximo64 10y ago

Well it's not borderless, its just you don't need a visa for a fair number of days (1 week to 6 months) and it will not accompany the right to work or study. Currently very few African countries offer visa on arrival or electronic visas for other African countries' citizens. While it's not the same as the EU's version of a borderless union, it's a great step forward.

nn3 10y ago

The BBC coverage is much better on this (including a FAQ on common questions): http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-36823644 http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-36823644

zo1 10y ago

Could we perhaps change the click-baity title? Africa is far from borderless. This is just a PR promotion article, with a corresponding title.

danjc 10y ago
I really don't understand how this even gets upvoted on HN. It's barely worthy of mention in conventional news and I live in South Africa so if anyone should find it relevant I should!
- Kinnard 10y ago
  Well, a borderless Africa would certainly be pertinent to the startup community. And this seems like an important step toward that.
  - danjc 10y ago
    I think archaic forex regulations are more of a blocker than free travel but what I meant is It can't be hard to agree to let diplomats travel easily. The impact is almost immaterial.
    - Kinnard 10y ago
      What forex regulations? How are they blockers? It certainly seems symbolic, and I imagine it will at least bring some level of greater simplicity to diplomats/dignitaries. That picture of the guy kissing the passport? I bet that wouldn't be happening if it were a meaningless non-milestone.
      - danjc 10y ago
        Here's a quick overview of South African exchange control [1]. Another example is withholding tax which a number of African countries legislate. These are blockers because they create friction for small business that wants to expand into other African countries. 1. http://www.money-transfers.co.za/south-africa-exchange-control.php http://www.money-transfers.co.za/south-africa-exchange-contr...

goatsi 10y ago

A good article talking about the current issues traveling between African countries: http://qz.com/641025/the-trials-restrictions-and-costs-of-traveling-in-africa-if-youre-an-african/ http://qz.com/641025/the-trials-restrictions-and-costs-of-tr...

bogomipz 10y ago

From the AU Summit in Kigali, Rwanda: "One of the primary goals of the agenda is to guarantee integration and political unity in Africa and this passport will aid the body achieve that goal." Yet Paul Kagame has been President of Rwanda now for 16 years!!! Oh and this borderless AU is only available to the "ruling class." So African politics as usual. Nobody believes this nonsense. This is pure spin. If they really wanted to address jobs they would need to address the fact that their countries are increasingly selling their natural resources and labor to the Chinese. I was shocked when I saw Chinese laborers in coolies building roads in Ethiopia and a foreman barking at them in Mandarin. This is not an uncommon site in Kenya and the DRC either.

finid 10y ago
Africa is a complex problem. How do you think the Chinese manage to get access to every natural resource? Just bribe a leader and you're home free. But don't forget that we moved practically all our manufacturing industry to China, so that problem is not unique to Africa. The real problem is that when a "strongman" appears in an African country and tries to set things right, he's automatically a threat to former colonial powers, so we get rid of him. The French have ben doing it before we came on the scene, so getting rid of African strongmen is not our invention.
- morgante 10y ago
  Yes, strong dictators have been great for African development. /s
  - finid 10y ago
    Actually, strong, nationalistic military leaders have been. There're, of course, corrupt, authoritarian leaders that decimated their countries, but those are not unique to Africa. Muammar Gaddafi was of that strong, nationalistic military type who was very good for his country, that is, until we decided he was too much of an impediment to our interests.
    - 10y ago

mrb 10y ago

The AU passport is part of Agenda 2063 which establishes many other ambitious goals: http://agenda2063.au.int/en/sites/default/files/agenda2063_popular_version_05092014_EN.pdf http://agenda2063.au.int/en/sites/default/files/agenda2063_p... So I want to create a reminded for Jan 1st, 2063 in my Google Calendar to "check if Africa has reached these goals". Unfortunately Calendar won't let me save events past year 2050 :-(

zingar 10y ago

The author clearly has no idea of Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma's history. She's a potentially powerful figure in South Africa's ruling ANC who is in a cushy job that is really political exile. As such, she's free to talk up ideas that sound great in The Economist (conservative macro-economics, zealous climate change action, consumer protection, gay rights, health laws) but never have to convince a single member of the electorate about their merits. Issues are somewhere between "don't care" and "when hell freezes over" in the electorate's mind. This particular issue is on the extreme end of frozen hell. Poor South Africans perceive foreigners as criminals and/or a direct threat to their livelihoods, and the tension regularly boils over into violence. There's plenty of room for nuance: the violence is extreme but it is a fact that we have an appalling history of (and in some cases ongoing) exploitation, including hiring seasonal foreign workers (illegally) for lower wages than locals. Regardless, nothing like the EU freedom of movement is ever going to happen. Republicans in the US are more likely to support Obama immigration reforms for Mexicans than South Africans would vote for millions of Congolese, Zimbabweans, Nigerians, Malawians, Sudanese migrants/refugees to be allowed to hold jobs here.

zamalek 10y ago
Disclaimer: all personal conclusions (derived from facts). It's just enough lip-service from the ANC to continue convincing the international community that they are in some way continuing Mandela's legacy. > South Africans would vote I would vote to allow it - if such a vote ever occurred. I think the example would be more similar to "Trump providing gratis working visas to Mexicans." The race rhetoric is one of the primary tools of the ANC[1][2], eliminating xenophobia[3] works against that. It is in the ANCs best interests to avoid properly implementing the AU passport if they want their regime to remain in power. [1]: http://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2016/07/14/Zuma-%E2%80%98does-not-understand-blacks-who-vote-for-the-DA%E2%80%99 http://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2016/07/14/Zuma-%E2%80%9... [2]: http://www.news24.com/elections/news/da-is-the-offspring-of-the-oppressor-zuma-20160720 http://www.news24.com/elections/news/da-is-the-offspring-of-... [3]: http://www.aljazeera.com/blogs/africa/2015/04/south-africa-xenophobia-150430224826901.html http://www.aljazeera.com/blogs/africa/2015/04/south-africa-x...

jpatokal 10y ago

Title is absurdly overhyped. As noted, this is currently limited to diplomats and heads of state (!). Talk is cheap in the AU, and even in the unlikely event that they do manage to "create the conditions for member states to issue the passport to their citizens", it's likely to end up a boondoggle like the APEC Business Travel Card: https://www.border.gov.au/Busi/Trav/APEC https://www.border.gov.au/Busi/Trav/APEC Which also grants visa-free travel to APEC economies, but only if you can fulfill a huge list of mostly arbitrary conditions that de facto make it impossible to apply for unless you're sitting in the C-suite of a listed company, have someone to do the paperwork for you and travel a lot.

ajarmst 10y ago
Agreed. Judging by the list of current territorial disputes in Africa (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_territorial_disputes#Africa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_territorial_disputes#A...), we're a ways from 'borderless'. Even in the EU, the refugee crisis has made it pretty clear that there are still quite a few borders that people are willing to kill and die over. I agree that improving human mobility and trade can have enormous value, but pretending that doing that is easy (or merely a matter of issuing press releases) does no one any favours.
drawnwren 10y ago
While your points about the AU Passport are probably correct, I know a very poor and normal American and Australian with the APEC cards. Neither are affiliated with any companies.
- jpatokal 10y ago
  Dunno about the US, but unless your Oz friend is a high gov't official, that seems to be in contradiction with the posted guidelines: * * * You are either: * the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Financial Officer (CFO) or regional or country head of a registered business entity * an owner or director of a registered business entity * a Board member of a registered business entity * the CEO or CFO of an Australian-based business peak body * an employee of a registered business entity nominated by the CEO, CFO, regional head, owner or director of the organisation. * a senior government official – contact us for the eligibility requirements before you apply.

p1mrx 10y ago

But the AU country code is already taken by Australia. They should've gone with FU.

DavidWanjiru 10y ago

According to the bulk of the response I saw on African Twitter when this was announced, the simpler (and much cheaper) thing to do would be to remove visa restrictions for anyone with an African passport.

buyx 10y ago

Slightly OT, but The article alludes to xenophobic violence in South Africa. South Africa already has a de facto open borders policy and its local black population has been squeezed out of many business opportunities by people from the rest of Africa, as well as Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and China, and there are spasmodic eruptions of anti-foreigner violence. The similarities with Brexit and Trump are striking, and show something more complex is going on, than simple bigotry.

known 10y ago

"The greater the diversity in a community, the fewer people vote and the less they volunteer, the less they give to charity and work on community projects; In the most diverse communities, neighbors trust one another about half as much as they do in the most homogeneous settings." http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2007/08/05/the_downside_of_diversity/ http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2007/08/05/t...