TRAVEL professionals
are sceptical about the
success of the African
Union’s electronic passport,
which was launched this month.
The initiative aims to give
travellers visa-free access to AU
member states.
The e-passport was
introduced at the AU Summit in
Kigali, Rwanda, held between
July 10 and 18. The AU says
the first group of beneficiaries
of the new e-passport will
include AU heads of state
and government; ministers
of foreign affairs; and the
permanent representatives
of AU Member States based
at the AU headquarters in
Addis Ababa. Reports say the
passport is expected to be
rolled out to all African citizens
by 2018.
However, Clayson Monyela,
spokesperson for the
Department of International
Relations, SA, says the rollout
of the e-passport to the
heads of state is just the first
phase of the initiative and the
decision to roll it out across
Africa will be based on the
success of this phase. He adds
that SA’s decision to participate
in this initial stage will depend
on the outcome of the summit.
Industry authorities are
sceptical about how the
e-passport will work.
“Theoretically it makes
sense,” says Forum of
Immigration Practitioners of
South Africa chairperson,
Gershon Mosiane. “Practically,
I don’t think Africa is ready for
this and I am not convinced
the AU has the capability or
financial muscle to pull it off.”
Gershon says the playing
field in Africa is not level
and ratifiying and adopting
the necessary protocols and
legislation necessary for an
African passport would take
years. “We are simply not ready
for it. Of the 54 countries in
Africa only 13 have free visa
deals with each other. There
is no denying that the concept
is solid, the EU proves this, but
it is questionable how we as
Africa will pull this off.”
“I think there is a massive
difference between the
theoretical idea of the passport
and effectively implementing it,
taking into account the security
and best interests of an
economically attractive country
such as SA,” agrees Bjorn van
Niekerk, operations director
for Intergate Immigration. “I
would like to hear more on
how they intend to implement
this, especially when SA is still
trying to deal with a massive
amount of illegal immigrants,
undocumented foreigners and
a system that is not effectively
handling refugee and asylum
applications.”
Jose Cruz, national executive
client services manager of HRG
Rennies Travel, says success
will hinge on African member
states getting their passports
fully biometric. He says while
quite a few countries are
introducing this requirement,
even SA passports are not fully
biometric yet.
Rod Murphy, commercial
projects manager for
Compagnie Africaine d’Aviation,
says, logistically too many
countries and languages are
involved. “Getting the new
information to the border
officials would be a major
problem. Just look at hassles
at ORTIA every time a change
was implemented there.”
