The adoption of the African passport could bring up 24% spending in travels by plane in Africa, a study conducted by travel technology company Sabre Corporation revealed.

Average spent by 23% of Africans that travelled by air across the continent over the past 2 years is $1,149. The study said this amount could reach $1,508 because of the passport.

31% of the 7,000 individuals surveyed in Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya said procedure to get visa refrains them from traveling by plane across the continent. This is likely to impact the continent’s economy by making it more costly to establish and manage commercial relations. Economic consequences resulting from borders being difficult of access are quite significant.  

For example, it is easier for a Cameroonian to travel to the Middle-East to buy goods than to go to South Africa or Egypt. For Kenyans, whose state-owned airlines aims at becoming the best in sub-Saharan Africa, the situation is more concerning. Only people from Malawi, Botswana and Zambia will be able to go to SA without a VISA and vice-versa.

Besides the VISA issue, airlines and African nations will have to change a number of things. 32% of those surveyed in the framework of the study said plane tickets were too costly. This is often due to airport taxes imposed by States that contracted huge debts to build airports, and pay maintenance fees.

Idriss Linge