Mmegi

Dangote renews call for visa-free Africa

Speaking out: Dangote deliberates at the AAM, during a session with CNN’s Eleni Giokos
Speaking out: Dangote deliberates at the AAM, during a session with CNN’s Eleni Giokos

NASSAU, The Bahamas: Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has reiterated his call for the removal of travel restrictions for Africans in Africa, saying he is part of a continental private sector group that is lobbying governments to take action.

The Nigerian industrialist, with a net worth of nearly $14 billion, told the Afreximbank Annual Meeting (AAM) taking place here that he needs 35 visas to travel around the continent, an impediment to his plans for investment. Dangote’s comments come as thousands of delegates from 40 African and 12 Caribbean nations gather in The Bahamas to forge closer economic and trade relations.

“We in the private sector are trying something and I think we are going to challenge some of our leaders to remove this thing of borders and move for the free movement of our people,” the billionaire said to applause from delegates. “All Africans moving in Africa should be getting visa on arrival. “We have already done that with Canada, the United States, Australia and others.”

Editor's Comment
The State apparatus must be sanitised

When the State cannot rely on its own machinery to pursue suspected wrongdoing, repairing that machinery must become a national priority.The establishment of a Special Investigations and Asset Recovery Task Force may help government respond to the immediate challenge. However, Botswana cannot afford to leave the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) and the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) struggling whilst building...

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