Gabby Asare Otchere Darko is the founder and chairperson of the African Prosperity Network.
A continent-wide people-led campaign aimed at removing barriers to the free movement of Africans is scheduled to launch in Accra in February 2026.
The initiative, dubbed ‘Make Africa Borderless Now!’, will be formally announced at the 2026 African Prosperity Dialogue (APD) and aims to mobilize more than 10 million signatures across Africa and its global diaspora to support visa-free travel, open skies and deeper continental integration.
The signatures will be presented to African heads of state at the 40th African Union Summit in Addis Ababa in February 2027, said Gaby Asare Otchere-Darko, founder and executive chair of the African Prosperity Network.
Otchere-Darko said the campaign aims to transform African integration from a long-standing political aspiration to a popular demand driven by the people, especially the youth.
Otchere-Darko expressed confidence that the movement could achieve its ambitious goals, similar to the global Jubilee 2000 campaign of the 1990s, of which he was a part.
He pointed out that the Jubilee 2000 campaign managed to collect 24 million signatures worldwide without the benefit of modern digital tools.
“If it was possible to mobilize millions of people around the world using paper and pen, radio and fax in the 1990s, mobilizing 10 million Africans on a digitally connected continent today is achievable,” he said.
Make Africa borderless now! The campaign is led by the African Prosperity Network in collaboration with key pan-African institutions and partners, including the AfCFTA Secretariat, African Development Bank (AfDB), AUDA-NEPAD, BADEA, and African Finance Corporation (AFC).
The Africa Prosperity Dialogue 2026, scheduled for February 4 to 6 at the Accra International Conference Center, will be held under the patronage of President John Dramani Mahama.
Organizers say the movement will rely heavily on digital platforms and grassroots mobilization, engaging businesses, traders, civil society organizations, trade unions, faith-based organizations, traditional authorities, youth organizations and cultural influencers from across the continent and the diaspora.
At the heart of the campaign is a 12-pillar roadmap aimed at accelerating the implementation of the African Union’s existing agreements and protocols.
Key proposals include visa-free travel across Africa, liberalization of air routes, a continental biometric passport, a single African customs union, harmonized trade standards, seamless digital payments, a trans-African infrastructure corridor, and stronger legal mechanisms to enforce the single African market.
The campaign also highlights the central role of women and youth in Africa’s integration agenda and calls for a unified African voice in global negotiations.
Otchere Darko said the initiative comes at a critical time, as global migration restrictions tighten and African institutions increasingly warn of the economic costs of domestic border barriers.
He asserted that free movement within Africa is essential for economic resilience, self-determination and long-term prosperity.
“This is about Africans demanding the freedom to move, trade and innovate within their continent,” he said.
“A borderless Africa is no longer just an idea, it is a necessity.”
Organizers are calling on Africans at home and abroad to join the campaign by signing, sharing and rallying in support of continental unity when it launches in 2026.
