On 1-2 August 2024, the African Union Commission (AUC) with the support of ICMPD, organised a consultation meeting in Zanzibar. The meeting included representatives from African Union (AU) Member States, the Regional Economic Communities (RECs), the private sector and civil society. The event focused on the challenges and opportunities for the ratification and implementation of the AU Free Movement of Persons (FMP) Protocol, to inform the development of an expert-led study commissioned by the AUC.
The consultation was organised within the framework of the AU-EU Continent-to-Continent Migration and Mobility Dialogue (C2CMMD) within the wider EU-funded Migration and Mobility Dialogue Support Programme. It brought together officials from 17 AU Member States (Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe), representatives from five RECs (COMESA, ECCAS, ECOWAS, IGAD, and UMA), representatives from the Bureaus of the Specialized Technical Committees of the AU, represented by Tanzania and Cameroon respectively, the European Union, and the AU Organs AFCAC and ECOSOCC. The meeting was also attended by representatives from the private sector and civil society namely by the African Centre for Migration and Society, Institute for Security Studies, ECOWAS FEBWE, FEWACCI, AMADPOC, Scalabrini, GTTC, the COMESA Business Council and the East Africa Business Council.
H.E. Ambassador Mussa, Deputy Permanent Secretary at Ministry of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation and H.E. Ambassador Shiyo, Permanent Representative of the United Republic of Tanzania to the AU and member of the Bureau of the STC on Migration, Refugees, and Internally Displaced Persons, welcomed the meeting as an opportunity to renew commitments towards the FMP, underscoring the importance of free movement of people for the achievement of a united, prosperous, and peaceful Africa. Mr. Rossetti, Deputy Head of Mission of the EU Delegation to Tanzania and the East African Community, also highlighted the critical role that free movement can play in the economic integration and development of the continent. AU Commissioner Minata Samate Cessouma, represented by Mme. Amukhobu, Head of Humanitarian and Free Movement Division of the AUC, echoed the aforementioned, and highlighted the gap between Pan-African ideals and their implementation, noting that the Protocol has been signed by 32 Member States, but has only been ratified by four.
The participants deliberated on the challenges, opportunities and possible strategies for the ratification and implementation of the FMP in regional working groups, drawing on lessons from successful regional agreements in the RECs, the EU and other regions of the world. These were also highlighted in the presentation of the Free Move Platform, a platform seeking to consolidate analysis of free movement regimes worldwide. The discussions and findings will feed into the study being developed by a team of experts and will be complemented by desk research to cover all five regions of the African Union.
The importance of continuous dialogue and innovative thinking were highlighted as crucial to achieving the goals of Agenda 2063 and realizing a politically united and integrated Africa, benefiting all its citizens.