Africa’s richest billionaire, Aliko Dangote, has highlighted the significant difficulties investors face when traveling within the African continent. Speaking at the Africa CEO Forum Annual Summit in Kigali, Rwanda, Dangote revealed that he requires 35 different visas on his Nigerian passport to travel across Africa.
“I still complained to President Kagame. I told him that as an investor, I have to now apply for 35 different visas on my passport,” Dangote said. “I really don’t have the time to go and be dropping my passports in embassies to get a visa.”
Dangote contrasted his experience with that of Patrick Pouyanne, chairman of Total Energies, who does not require multiple visas to travel within Africa using his French passport. “You don’t need 35 visas on your French passport. This means you have freer movement than myself in Africa,” he noted.
Dangote emphasized the need for improving regional markets to make the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) effective. “Our main job is to make sure the regional markets all work. Once they work, then we can now go to AfCFTA. But then, for AfCFTA also, we need to make sure that it works.”
He pointed out the current intra-trade rate in Africa is less than 16 percent and stressed that Africans must take the lead in developing the continent. “We cannot have a very promising continent and our intra-trade rate is less than 16 percent. We Africans will have to do it. If we are waiting for foreigners to come and do it, it’s not going to happen,” he said. “We must risk our resources and make sure that we lead, then we will have people who actually trust and believe in Africa like Patrick to come and help us to push to the next level.”
Dangote’s remarks highlight ongoing challenges in achieving economic integration and ease of movement for investors within Africa, which are crucial for the continent’s development and the success of initiatives like AfCFTA.
