Former Member of Parliament for Kumbugu and leader of the Trans Africa Tourism and Unity Campaign, Ras Mubarak, has been invited by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the African Union Commission (AUC) to serve on a high-level panel on visa liberalisation, days after the conclusion of his team’s 31-country continental tour.

Mr Mubarak disclosed the development in a Facebook post on Tuesday, January 27, shortly after the campaign team returned to Ghana, describing his participation as a continuation of the group’s advocacy for a visa-free Africa.

"It is my distinct honour to invite you, on behalf of the African Development Bank Group, in partnership with the African Union Commission, to participate as a Panellist at the High-Level. Symposium on Advancing a Visa-Free Africa for Economic Prosperity taking place on Friday, 13th February 2026, from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on the margins of the 39th Ordinary Summit of African Union Heads of State and Government," the invitation letter read.

“I am delighted to accept the invitation of the African Development Bank & the African Union Commission to partake in a high-level panel discussion on the sidelines of the 39th Ordinary Summit of African Union Heads of State & Government on Feb 13, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,” he wrote.

The panel discussion, themed “How can we move faster towards a visa-free Africa?”, will take place on the margins of the African Union Summit and is expected to bring together policy makers, development partners and experts to explore practical steps towards easing travel restrictions across the continent.

“These discussions underscore the growing consensus around ‘A Visa Free Africa’ by 2030, as a practical pathway to boost tourism, trade, investment, and economic resilience across our great continent,” Mr Mubarak said.

He noted that the theme resonates strongly with the campaign he has just led across Africa. “The discussion theme… resonates deeply with our ongoing campaign for a visa-free Africa by 2030,” he added.

Mr Mubarak said he was honoured to contribute to the platform, indicating that his role would focus on translating advocacy into action. “I am honoured to contribute to this timely platform, and share practical insights on accelerating progress, addressing persistent bottlenecks, and proposing bold, actionable reforms to achieve transformational change in Africa’s mobility agenda,” he stated.

“The time for decisive action is now,” he added.

The invitation follows the return of the Trans Africa Tourism and Unity Campaign team to Ghana after a nearly five-month road journey covering about 40,000 kilometres across 31 African countries. The campaign, which began in August 2025, sought to engage African leaders, policymakers and citizens on the need to remove travel barriers to unlock tourism potential, create jobs and deepen continental integration.

Speaking at Independence Square in Accra upon the team’s return, Mr Mubarak expressed gratitude to the Government of Ghana, particularly the Office of the Chief of Staff and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for supporting the initiative. He also acknowledged the backing of partners such as the Ghana Tourism Authority, which provided logistical and financial assistance.

During the tour, the team held engagements with several African leaders, including President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni of Uganda, King Letsie III of Lesotho, King Mswati III of Eswatini, Prime Minister Amadou Oury Bah of Guinea, and Vice President Dr W.K. Mutale Nalumango of Zambia, as well as ministers responsible for foreign affairs and tourism.

Receiving the team on behalf of the Chief of Staff, Deputy Chief of Staff in charge of Communications, Ms Shamima Muslim, described the campaign as timely, noting that President John Dramani Mahama is expected to assume the chairmanship of the African Union next year, when Ghana also marks its 70th anniversary.

She said insights from the journey would support Ghana’s broader vision of advancing African unity and integration, stressing that meaningful continental unity cannot be achieved while the movement of Africans across borders remains restricted.

The AfDB–AUC panel appearance marks Mr Mubarak’s first formal continental role following the campaign and signals growing institutional recognition of the Trans Africa Tourism and Unity Campaign’s advocacy for a visa-free Africa by 2030.

The African Development Bank Group acknowledged that all of Africa’s ambitions for an integrated and prosperous continent rely on actualizing visa free mobility.

"Yet, according to the tenth edition of the Africa Visa Openness Index (AVOI) - jointly produced by the African Development Bank Group and the African Union Commission, only 28.2% of Africans’ travel within Africa is visa-free. At the same time, just over half of intra-African travel still requires a visa ahead of departure, and recent shifts from visa-on- arrival systems to e-Visas and Electronic Travel Authorisations are introducing new layers of cost, complexity, and exclusion," it noted.

With the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement now in its operation phase, and as AU Members pursue the Single African Air Transport Market, the African Development Bank Group believes that visa-free movement becomes even more urgent if we are to reap Africa’s demographic dividend, and economic potential to create a prosperous Africa."