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The diaspora visa, an idea whose time is coming — gradually

African tourism, despite the lingering recession, continues to rise — but the Mother Continent wants more. In particular, African countries are targeting diaspora travelers — black Americans, black Caribbeans and African emigres who haven’t been home for awhile — and they’ve come up with an intriguing idea to help lure them.

The diaspora visa.

It’s an idea that was discussed at the recently concluded congress of the Africa Travel Association, held this year in The Gambia. And if it ever comes to pass, it could revolutionize travel and tourism in Africa. Basically, it’s a visa that would allow Africans in the diaspora — the descendants of African slaves in the United States, the Caribbean and elsewhere — to visit needing only their passport.

Ghana began five years ago offering a diaspora visa for black Americans wanting to visit that West African country, waiving the regular requirements (they also offer dual citizenship to black Americans who commit to long-term investment in Ghana).

But as African emigre, broadcaster and ATA director Ogo Sow explained to me, the idea discussed at this year’s congress goes much, much further.

“We talked about creating a diaspora visa that would allow you to travel all over the continent without a (regular) visa,” he said.

Currently, for every country you wish to visit in Africa, you need a separate visa from that country — and have to pay their separate fee each time. Depending on how many nations you want to visit on a single trip, it’s a huge headache, and expense, for the traveler.

With a diaspora passport, your black face and your U.S. passport would give you diplomatic entree to visit any or all of Africa’s 53 nations.

The impact of this for African tourism, were it actually to take hold, would be immense.

The concept itself is not new. One of the most popular things the European Union did when it came into being was to eliminate national visas among its member nations — and dump those same visa requirements for visitors from friendly lands. Which is why today, any American visiting Europe gets one visa stamp in his passport when he first enters the continent — and that stamp is good to enter any other EU country.

“In Europe, you can got anywhere you want to on one visa,” Sow noted.

I saw this in action for myself the day we crossed the Rhine from Strasbourg, France for a brief day-trip to the small German town of Kehl. No one was stopping vehicles to check anyone for papers. The checkpoints on either side of the bridge were long gone.

We crossed from France to Germany and back again on a Strasbourg city bus — and no one on either side thought twice about it. Commerce between the city of Strasbourg and the town of Kehl moved back and forth just as easily. It was a beautiful thing.

If it can work in Western Europe, the thinking goes — and clearly, it does — why not Africa?

It’s all part of a larger push to get the rest of the world, especially Europe and the United States, to see Africa and her 53 nations more favorably as a collective travel destination.

“After 50 years of independence,” said Sow, “we should now really start being part of the world in terms of tourism.”

Don’t look for this to happen in the next few months. The EU had its share of technical and political difficulties, not to mention centuries of conflict and mutual distrust, to overcome before streamlining Europe’s visa process. There’s little reason to expect Africa to have it any easier. And cutting bureaucratic red tape is but one of the challenges to boosting African tourism.

But if Africa’s governments can come together and make this work, it could go a long way toward encouraging black Americans to cross the Atlantic Ocean and connect with their African heritage first-hand, something that would greatly benefit African-Americans and Africans alike.

It’s an idea that deserved to be studied — and encouraged.

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