FILE – A man puts an expired passport in his pocket while waiting in a queue to submit an application for a new passport at the main office in Harare, June 14, 2019.
Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced the agreement with Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi at the Kusi Ideas Festival in Botswana on Thursday. The festival, co-hosted by Kenya’s Nation Media Group and the Botswana government, brought together African leaders and thinkers to discuss the continent’s future.
Mnangagwa said the two leaders had instructed their officials to clear any legal obstacles to the passport-free travel. He said the decision was motivated by their shared African identity and vision.
“We should be able to walk into Botswana, walk into Zambia, walk into Kenya… Why should we restrict ourselves?” Mnangagwa said.
The passport-free travel is expected to increase economic ties, tourism and cultural exchange between Zimbabwe and Botswana. It is also seen as a step toward a borderless Africa, where citizens can move and trade freely within the continent, as envisioned by the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
Post published in: Featured