President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Mohammad Dangote, says visa restrictions and barriers to movement within Africa are undermining investment and slowing the continent’s economic integration.
He has urged African leaders to move beyond years of discussion and take concrete steps to allow freer movement of people, goods and services across the continent.
He said this at the Accra Reset hosted by President John Dramani Mahama on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Monday, September 21, 2026, where he questioned why Africans face greater difficulty travelling within the continent than visitors from outside Africa.
According to him, restrictive visa regimes make it difficult for African businesses and investors to explore opportunities across borders, while foreign nationals often access African countries more easily.
“The issue of all these visas, free movement of people, goods, and services, we have been talking about it for a long time, and we’re really tired of talking. So we need to act now and make sure we allow the free movement of people,” he said.
Dangote, who is Africa’s richest man, wondered why Africans are not allowed to visit each other freely, stressing that it does not make sense for Europeans to have easier access to African countries than Africans themselves.
“I have always wondered: why are we not allowing ourselves to visit each other? If I’m not going to have a visa to a country, for example, even in Africa, why should I invest? Why are you allowing a European to visit Africa much, much easier than me as an African? It does not make sense,” he said.
He acknowledged security concerns often cited by governments for maintaining visa restrictions, but said that should not prevent legitimate movement among Africans.
“We need to really get together on the continent. Then nobody will come and develop our continent but us,” he added.
Dangote credits Mahama’s leadership for restoring investor confidence in Ghana
