Emboldened Global South Calls for Visa Reciprocity

It is trite but true to say the world continues to be convulsed by the massive geopolitical shifts that are leading, inevitably, to a new global political and economic order. In this new multipolar world, countries of the global south are asserting themselves in ways that have not been seen before. Once marginalized, they are now taking their rightful place at the center of debates and in multilateral bodies. Longstanding inequities and slights, real and imagined, are being questioned and discarded. New battles, from vaccine access to a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, are being waged and sometimes won. The cry from the Global South is clear and urgent: The world can no longer continue as it has.

With more agency over their affairs and emboldened by the tectonic geopolitical shifts of recent years, these governments will push for more reciprocity in the movement of people — and may take steps to correct what many consider a historical injustice.

Open Africa meets fortress Europe

When Nigerian businessman Aliko Dangote, the continent’s wealthiest person, told the Africa CEO Forum in May that he faces far more hurdles traveling across Africa than visitors with European passports do, a ripple ran through the audience. Virtually everyone in the room agreed, but a second, urgent, issue came to mind: Have you tried traveling to a Schengen country or similar lately?

Even as intra-African travel becomes easier, with visa regimes being relaxed or axed to encourage freer movement, most western countries are battening down the hatches and making it more difficult to visit their countries — or downright refusing entry. As indicated in the ground-breaking research undertaken by Prof. Mehari Taddele Maru, African visa applicants to visit Europe’s Schengen Area already face far more severe restrictions compared to applicants from other regions, resulting in disproportionately high rejection rates. The research showed that “about three in ten African Schengen visa applicants were rejected, compared to one in ten applicants worldwide”.

Mainstream political parties across Europe have hardened their immigration and asylum policies, mimicking surging rightist players. Even historically progressive countries such as the Netherlands are seeking to install immigration and asylum regimes that are stricter than the Schengen grouping. In July, South Africa and Botswana’s visa-free travel to Ireland was revoked.

The pushback

Some governments in the global south are questioning these moves and are actively seeking equality in the form of visa reciprocity. In May, Namibia unveiled measures to impose entry visa requirements for more than 30 countries that have not reciprocated its open visa regime. Nigeria has threatened to impose the same measures against countries with strict visa issuance against its travelers. In the run-up to the French election earlier in July, a Chadian official told France’s Le Monde newspaper that if incoming leaders block visas for Chadians, “we will apply reciprocity”.

Dangers abound — and there may be unintended consequences

It's not an easy path to follow. In 2019 Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro scrapped visa requirements for travelers from Australia, Canada, Japan, and the USA to bolster tourism. The four countries continued to demand visas from Brazilians. Meanwhile, Namibia’s Economic Policy Research Association has warned that the decision to impose visa restriction on the 31 countries that enjoy visa-free access to the southwestern African nation poses “severe negative” dangers for its vital tourism sector and may imperil thousands of jobs in a country that has one of the highest unemployment rates in the world.

Europe is shutting down

African and Global South leaders need to bear in mind that prospects of visa reciprocity with the Schengen states or the European Union are virtually nil. A wave of political change is sweeping across the continent, and it has thrust opponents of increased human mobility into influential positions, if not into power. In France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and other Schengen states, anti-immigration parties continue to gain popularity. Across Europe, parties that have thrived on anti-immigration rhetoric are on the rise and are making entry into the region extremely difficult for Africans — in particular — and other citizens of the Global South.

This complicates the geopolitical jockeying for influence in Africa between China, Russia, and the USA. Increasingly, China and Russia are opening access to their countries through the relaxation of visa mechanisms. This as Britain, the Schengen states, and other European Union members increase barriers to visa-free access to Europe.

China and Southeast Asia are opening up — And will continue to do so

A more pragmatic approach is driving initiatives by China and the countries of Southeast Asia. Many are granting or extending visa-free status to various countries to promote trade and tourism. Part of this is because many have taken a relatively neutral geopolitical stance, giving them the leeway to implement policies that allow them to tap into various markets.

The birth of a movement

The call for visa reciprocity is a trickle for now. But we should not be in any doubt that it is part of a greater global movement in which developing countries are confronting policies rooted in colonial perceptions of what Africa, India, Latin America, and others deserve. Countries of the Global South will choose their allies depending on their economic concerns. Countries that fail to reciprocate — in visa regimes or in other policies — will find themselves without friends in the Global South. What Namibia, Nigeria, Brazil, and even Chad, are hinting at is the beginning, not the end, of a movement. There will be others.