Online Reporter
Ivan Zhakata
Herald Correspondent
THE African People’s petition for a Borderless Africa has surpassed 10 000 signatures as campaign organisers call on African union (AU) member states to urgently ratify and implement the AU Free Movement Protocol of 2018.
The Pan-African movement, Africans Rising, said the milestone demonstrated widespread public support for removing visa and administrative barriers that continued to restrict intra-African travel.
“This is not just an announcement. It is a clear signal to African governments, the AU and regional economic communities that Africans are ready for a borderless Africa,” Africans Rising said in a statement.
“The ratification of the Free Movement Protocol should not wait any longer.”
The petition is part of the #BorderlessAfrica campaign, which argues that colonial-era borders established at the 1884–85 Berlin Conference have, for over a century, divided communities, stifled economic growth, and weakened continental unity.
Progress on free movement has remained slow.
Only four AU member states have ratified the protocol, while nearly half of Africans still require visas to travel across the continent, according to Africans Rising.
“The gap between political commitments and reality is costing Africa jobs, innovation, trust and opportunity,” read the statement.
“Free movement is not a threat to security or sovereignty. It is a foundation for integration, peace, and shared prosperity.”
The petition’s more than 10 000 signatories include youth, cross-border traders, creatives, women, diaspora Africans and grassroots organisers.
Africans Rising said their unified demand is for free movement to be recognised as a critical step toward economic justice and continental unity.
It urged citizens to continue signing the petition, media organisations to highlight the campaign and AU member states to demonstrate political courage by fast-tracking ratification and implementation.
The petition calls for the removal of visa and administrative barriers, adoption of people-centred and gender-responsive mobility policies and an end to security-heavy border practices that criminalise African movement.
“Free movement is essential for integration, peace, shared prosperity and dignity,” Africans Rising said, urging Africans on the continent and in the diaspora to join the push for a borderless Africa.
