Online Reporter
Ivan Zhakata-Features Correspondent
A new wind of pan-African revival is sweeping across the continent and it begins not in a government chamber, but on an open road.
On August 18, 2025, a small but determined team of campaigners will leave Accra, Ghana, in a convoy of vehicles.
Their destination: every corner of Africa.
Their mission: to break down the walls of bureaucracy and revive the long-held dream of a visa-free continent.
This is the Trans African Tourism and Unity Campaign, a five-month, 40 000-kilometre journey through 39 African countries calling on governments to remove visa restrictions and open their borders to fellow Africans.
The campaign could not be more timely.
Just days ago, Kenya made history by abolishing all visa and Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) requirements for citizens of nearly every African nation.
With the exception of Libya and Somalia due to security concerns, the new policy means Africans can now enter Kenya without any bureaucratic hurdles.
It is the most comprehensive visa liberalisation by any African country to date.
For Mr Ras Mubarak, the campaign lead of the Trans African Tourism and Unity Campaign, Kenya’s move is more than a travel policy, it is a powerful statement of what political will can achieve when matched with continental ambition.
“Kenya’s bold step is a practical demonstration of what is possible when political will meets continental ambition,” Mr Mubarak said.
Mr Mubarak has spent years advocating for African unity and integration, but his inspiration reaches back further — to the 1961 Casablanca Summit, where a group of visionary African leaders dared to imagine a united continent.
In a symbolic reflection, Mr Mubarak recalls a recent moment that reaffirmed his commitment. He had been handed an iconic photograph by Ambassador Imane Ouaadil, the Moroccan Ambassador to Ghana and Dean of African Ambassadors and High Commissioners.
The image captured the historic gathering of pan-African giants: Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Ahmed Sékou Touré of Guinea, Modibo Keita of Mali and King Mohammed V of Morocco.
“They dreamed of a continent unbound by colonial borders,” Mr Mubarak said.
“Their vision remains a beacon of hope. This campaign is about continuing their legacy — not through speeches, but through action.”
The Trans African Tourism and Unity Campaign is fully endorsed by the Government of Ghana through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
A team of eleven, including seven campaign crew and four journalists from Ghana Television, will travel through diverse terrain, engaging with heads of state, ministers, immigration officers, policy-makers and everyday citizens.
But even before the engines start, the team faces the very challenge it hopes to eliminate.
Despite representing a campaign for African freedom of movement, the crew must first pay a staggering US$14 520 in visa fees to enter the countries on their itinerary.
It is a sobering cost and a stark reminder of how divided Africa remained in practice, even as leaders publicly endorse integration.
“This US$14 520 is more than a travel expense. It is a symbol of our fragmentation.
“Every dollar we spend on visas is a dollar not spent on education, tourism, or development. It is a tax on unity,” Mr Mubarak said.
The campaign’s route reads like a continental tapestry — from Nigeria to Namibia, Ethiopia to Senegal, Morocco to Malawi.
In each country, the team will call for the adoption of the African Union’s Protocol on Free Movement of Persons and rally support for the broader goals of Agenda 2063, the AU’s vision for a peaceful, prosperous and integrated Africa.
In a world racing toward globalisation, Africa cannot afford to remain stuck behind borders drawn during the colonial era.
Mr Mubarak said the cost of inaction is steep: stifled trade, restricted tourism, rising youth unemployment and a continued legacy of artificial divisions.
“Visa restrictions burden our people with unnecessary hurdles,” he said. “They discourage tourism, they suffocate intra-African trade, and they obstruct the full implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). We cannot build a strong Africa when our people cannot even visit each other freely.”
The campaign is being supported by major media outlets including Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), Channels Television (Nigeria), Asaase Radio, Radio Gold, Liberia Broadcasting System and the Graphic Communications Group.
Through these partnerships, the team hopes to spread its message far and wide under the banners of #OpenAfrica and #OpenOpportunities.
“This is not just a road trip, it is a pan-African awakening,” Mr Mubarak said.
“We are reigniting the spirit of 1961, when Nkrumah and others laid the foundation for an Africa that could rise together.”
The journey will take the team through countries including Togo, Benin, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Zambia, Botswana, South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Chad, Algeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, The Gambia, and finally back to Ghana.
In each place, the mission remains the same: to demand immediate, tangible steps toward removing visa barriers.
Mr Mubarak has also called on African citizens, businesses and the diaspora to contribute financially or logistically to the campaign. From accommodation and fuel to outreach events and digital advocacy, the road to unity will require support from every corner of the continent.
“The time for excuses is over,” he said.
“Let us rise as one Africa, united in purpose, in action and destiny. This campaign is not mine alone.
“It is yours. It is ours. And together, we will fulfil the legacy of Nkrumah, Nasser, and the other pioneers of pan-Africanism.
“A visa-free Africa is not a distant dream, it is a decision waiting to be made.”
