Following the four-day Ministerial Conference on Aviation Security and Facilitation held in Windhoek the continent officials made a decision of having the common passport.
The meeting considered the possibility of a common passport across the continent by the end of 2018.
The target basically deals with some of the decisions that have been taken by the African Union in terms of Agenda 2063 – that is for the common passports to be issued to Africans in 2018.
This decision goes in hand with the removal of visas among the member states should be scrutinized.
About 33 countries participated in the conference, and more than 20 ministers were in attendance.
For a person to travel from one African state to another, especially to east or west Africa, he has to go via Europe, once a common passport is issued, there won’t be such delays.
The decision has been taken, now all that is required is the political willpower, African leaders take noble decisions, but then there is a challenge with implementation, there was also a similar decision taken to have one African currency that still needs to become a reality.
One of the documents was the declaration requesting member states to commit themselves on aviation security, especially with the terrorism threats and other challenges that impact airline safety and travel.
The conference was held under the auspices of the African Union, the International Civil Aviation Organisation and the African Civil Aviation Commission.
