The African Union Protocol on Free Movement : A Panacea to End Border Porosity?

Abstract

African borders have been adduced to be porous; enabling trans-national organized crimes (TOC) to thrive. At its inception in 2000, the African Union (AU) pledged to address this phenomenon. This article examines the border architecture of the AU to ascertain its contributions to the porosity of African borders. While the Union has sought to secure borders and address TOC, a lack of commitment by member states has hampered such efforts. This is due to their adherence to the notion of state-centrism. In the era of globalization, the AU's current move to facilitate free movement of persons, goods and services, with the introduction of a single passport, is a step in the right direction. However, the success of the Protocol is largely dependent on the commitment of member states. This paper argues that, though the structures or an appearance of such exist in some of the subregions which could guarantee the successful implementation of the AU Protocol if properly harnessed, the...