BUA Chairman Recounts South Africa Visa Denial, Calls for African Travel Reform

BUA Chairman Recounts South Africa Visa Denial, Calls for African Travel Reform

Chairman of BUA Group, Abdul Samad Rabiu, has recounted how he was once denied entry into South Africa because his visa had expired by just one day, while claiming that European travellers were allowed entry at the same border point without visas.

Rabiu made the disclosure on Thursday during his keynote address titled “Africa at Scale: Capital, Policy, and the Architecture of Growth” at the 13th Africa CEO Forum held at the Kigali Convention Centre in Rwanda. The high-level gathering brought together over 2,000 CEOs, investors, heads of state, and policymakers from more than 75 countries under the theme “Scale or Fail: Why Africa Must Embrace Shared Ownership.”

According to Rabiu, the experience highlights what he described as a contradiction in Africa’s trade and mobility systems, where African citizens often face stricter entry requirements compared to non-Africans entering the continent.

“I was denied entry into South Africa because my visa had expired by one day,” he told the forum. “Yet right there, at the same entry point, Europeans were being let in without any visa at all.”

He used the anecdote to emphasise broader structural barriers affecting African integration, particularly within the framework of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which aims to create a single market of over 1.4 billion people but continues to face implementation gaps.

READ ALSO:

• Makinde Joins 2027 Race, Announces Presidential Ambition in Ibadan
• Team Nigeria Beats Botswana, Kenya to Claim 4x400m Relay Gold
• Why I Dropped Plans To Buy Arsenal — Dangote

Rabiu noted that despite policy commitments, businesses still encounter inconsistent regulations across African borders, including visa restrictions, customs delays, and uneven enforcement of regional trade agreements.

He also referenced BUA Group’s expansion efforts across the continent, saying that while some countries have embraced AfCFTA principles, others remain hesitant or restrictive in practice.

The business leader called for accelerated reforms in areas such as cross-border infrastructure, digital customs systems, industrial corridors, and free movement of people and capital, arguing that these are essential for Africa’s long-term industrial growth and competitiveness.

Rabiu further stressed that economies with strong domestic processing capacity are better positioned to withstand global shocks, citing Nigeria’s expanding refining capacity as an example of resilience-building.

His remarks come amid ongoing efforts by African governments to ease intra-continental travel restrictions. While South Africa has introduced simplified visa processes for Nigerian business travellers in recent years, including multi-entry visa arrangements, implementation across the continent remains uneven.

Data referenced in policy discussions at the forum suggests that only a minority of African routes are currently visa-free, with many travellers still required to obtain advance entry permits, despite African Union commitments to improve mobility under the AfCFTA framework.

The Africa CEO Forum concluded with renewed calls for governments and private sector leaders to deepen cooperation, mobilise capital, and strengthen cross-border investment flows under the rallying theme: “Scale or Fail.”

Rabiu’s comments added to ongoing continental debates about whether Africa’s integration agenda is being slowed by policy inconsistency, administrative bottlenecks, and uneven adoption of agreed trade and mobility reforms.

BUA Chairman Recounts South Africa Visa Denial, Calls for African Travel Reform