Panafrican Solidarity Visa: A proposal

First presented in Yaounde, November 18, 1992,
and updated, May 2000.

1. Summary

The proposed Panafrican Solidarity Visa is a right of entry into the African Economic Community zone, to be paid by non-Africans entering the continent. Its value is ten US dollars per person per entry, and is payable in addition to the existing country visas. The money resulting from this new right of entry, estimated to be over 200 million US dollars per year, will be used to set up and run the Panafrican Parliament and the Panafrican Court of Justice, to contribute to the various programs of the African civil society and to increase the regular budget of the General Secretariat of the OAU.

2. Introduction

This proposal is the result of the collective reflection and research initiated by the OAU Club-Cameroon, and now pursued by the Panafrican Federation of OAU Associations and Clubs.
The Panafrican Solidarity Visa is also called the International Solidarity Visa in favor of Africa. It indicates the acknowledgment by all non-Africans visiting Africa, that this continent has for quite a long time experienced a unique situation in the world, characterized by a systematic impoverishment. It thus calls for a highly humanitarian act which is also applied to non-African children entering the continent. This is in recognition of the fact that African children are the greatest victims of the present widespread poverty. But it is also a legitimate act in the sense that Africans have the right to look for new financial sources from their own soil to break the vicious circle of the very complex crisis which is paralyzing their development. In any case, it should not be considered as the institutionalization of a new form of mendicity.

Money obtained from the Panafrican Solidarity Visa will serve, under the general supervision of the OAU, as follows:

1) The setting up and running of the Panafrican Parliament provided for in article 14 of the Abuja Treaty instituting the African Economic Community.

2) The setting up and running of the Panafrican Court of Justice provided for in article 18 of the same Treaty.

3) A regular budgetary contribution to the various programs of the African civil society, through an African Civil Society Organization (ACSO).

4) A contribution to the regular budget of the General Secretariat of the OAU.

3. Modalities of implementation

Given that the present proposal will need a systematic feasibility study, it is proposed that a joint effort of the General Secretariat of the OAU, the Executive Secretariat of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the African Development Bank (ADB) and the Representatives of the African civil society, be undertaken for its rapid study and implementation. It is also proposed that the next OAU Summit take a resolution adopting this proposal and entrust its implementation to the four partners above. The urgency of the African situation requires that Heads of State and Government, in their next ordinary Conference, take a resolution adopting this proposal, without hesitation and with enthusiasm, thereby acknowledging that this is an initiative of the African civil society appealing to the individual conscience of the non-African visitor entering the continent.

The resolution of the OAU on the Panafrican Solidarity Visa should include a non reciprocity clause opening the way for negotiations with non-African countries so that they may not demand, in return, the payment, by Africans, of a supplementary entry right into their territories.
Now, it is proper to present some facts to show that this proposal is timely, acceptable to all and easily applicable.

4. Opportunity and acceptability

It should be noted that over twenty million non-Africans enter Africa each year. By offering the opportunity to each of these visitors to pay a solidarity visa of ten US dollars, theoretically, over 200 million US dollars will be collected yearly, which is the equivalent of over six times the annual budget of the OAU General Secretariat for the year 2000. It is thus reasonable to believe that this money will permit to significantly achieve the four priority objectives indicated above. It is equally reasonable to think that a non-African wishing to travel to Africa will not call off his/her journey because of a moderate supplementary amount of ten US dollars which he/she will pay. At the same time, psychologically, the visitor will be happy to contribute to a useful enterprise. On their part, Africans would be significantly relieved of their present financial burden and dependency.

Africans, through a truly independent Panafrican Parliament, Panafrican Court of Justice, and African Civil Society Organization, would become greatly empowered to generate more resources for their self-development. In addition, besides their other duties, the Panafrican Court of Justice, the Panafrican Parliament and the African Civil Society Organization will be able to see to it that human rights are guaranteed in Africa, that public security is improved on the continent, including the protection of non-African visitors. The African civil society shall particularly see to it that there is a more promising future for African children and youths.
It is important to note that, at the moment, the African people really need extra money (not adding to their burden of debt and other charges) to set up certain institutions which are vital for the economic growth of the continent. The Panafrican Parliament, the Panafrican Court of Justice, the OAU Mechanism for conflict prevention, management and resolution, and an African Civil Society Organization, constitute the core of these institutions. What these institutions have in common is that they do not directly generate revenue, but they do create conditions for many other institutions to generate revenue. The Panafrican Solidarity Visa is therefore an appropriate response to the need for a new and permanent financial source for these fundamental institutions of the African continent, which need to be fully independent in nature and functioning.

Another timely aspect of the Panafrican Solidarity Visa is that it will permit the completion of the democratization process underway in all the countries of the continent. The idea is to help the African people to democratically elect their representatives to the continental parliament where they will adopt laws which shall henceforth govern common institutions and collective life. The democratization process in Africa shall remain incomplete so long as Africans do not effectively have this opportunity.

It should be recalled that the setting up of a Panafrican Parliament as a priority measure in the implementation of the African Economic Community has now become one of the objectives of the Sirte Declaration and, as such, will be an unparalleled democratic innovation in Africa. Moreover, the direct intervention or participation of the people in the implementation of this community will enable the amelioration of some of its dispositions, the shortcomings of which are apparent.

It is clear from the above reasons that the institution of a Panafrican Solidarity Visa will be an apt and timely measure, a blast of the rightful and acceptable oxygen for all, Africans and non-Africans alike. It is also an easily applicable measure.

5. Applicability

In the framework of the structural collaboration between the OAU, the ECA and the ADB, the tasks can be easily distributed. The ECA is better placed to carry out detailed studies necessary for this visa. These studies will include the estimates for management of the personnel to be mobilized for the collection of the funds. The ADB is naturally recommended to bank the funds to be collected daily in all the airports and entry ports across the continent, so that they bear interest. As concerns the OAU, it should have, in full partnership with the African Civil Society Organization, the task of effectively collecting the funds and setting up a detailed policy for the utilization of the money. To this effect, the Secretary General of the OAU, seconded by Delegates of the African Civil Society Organization, will serve as the overall manager of the budgetary provisions fed by the Panafrican Visa money.

However, it is equally reasonable to think that he can delegate some of his powers to the Delegates of the African Civil Society Organization.

Another practical aspect of this proposal is that it does not need to be applied immediately in all the member countries of the OAU. It could be applied first to those countries that will have ratified the OAU resolution on the Panafrican Solidarity Visa. In which case, the funds collected can only serve for programs concerning such countries. Other countries would be integrated gradually into the system as they ratify the resolution.

Finally, it should be noted that the implementation of this proposal will serve as a test and at the same time pave the way for the progressive institutionalization of the various components of the common African customs duty that has also been designed by the African Economic Community.

6. Conclusion

In conclusion, it should be emphasized that the present proposal is a legitimate cry of hope from the ordinary African to his non-African visitor. No one has the right to stifle this cry of the voiceless; it is one of the authentic African solutions to some of the many African problems.

This is why we are hereby making this heartfelt appeal to African and non-African leaders, to bring their support to the immediate implementation of this proposal. The urgency and the level of poverty in Africa require such a joint action.

As for us of the Panafrican Federation of OAU Associations and Clubs, we shall continue to reflect on and study the problems evoked here. We will make it a priority to bring them to all as our modest contribution to the advent of a united, peaceful and prosperous Africa.