Building strong and stable institutions should be the priority of each African country. This begins by respecting the law of the land (constitution), encouraging free and fair democratic elections, and respect for human rights.

Without these institutions, opening borders to trade will not be sustainable because people who are in power will never respect the rule of the game. Internal tensions will keep increasing which in return will lead to permanent instability and civil wars on the African continent.

Likewise, free trade is not a zero-sum game. In other words, to compete and win in today's fast-paced global marketplace, each African country needs to develop policies that promote and protect local businesses.

Ignoring this rule of the game means that many African countries will remain poor and dependent on goods and services made in USA, UK, Japan, China, etc. On the other side, allowing citizens to travel with national IDs or voters and student cards may temporary work for Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda.

Nonetheless, I don't think that the moment is right to extend this immigration policy to all African countries.At first, there is no central database on the African continent to monitor not only criminals but also national IDs and travel documents issued by each African country.

At second, corruption remains a serious issue in Africa such as even none citizens or terrorists can easily purchase national IDs, travel documents, voter and student cards. While opening borders to trade and free movement of citizens is good for the continent, I think that there are still many things to do.

Strong and stable institutions should be the start point. A creation of a unified central database and a mechanism to eradicate corruption would be the next move.

Thereafter, African leaders can talk about sustainable free trade across the continent. Thank you.

Eddy Chico, USA

Reaction to the story, "Calls for visa-free Africa gain momentum” (The New Times, May 23)