East Africa: New EAC e-Passport to Be Used From January 2017

East African will begin using new EAC electronic passports from January next year after Heads of State from the member countries launched the international travel document at a Summit held in Arusha, Tanzania, yesterday.

Each member nation will have up to December 2018, to phase out their national passports.

This latest development is further demonstration of progress for the ongoing integration agenda.

The EAC is made up of six member countries. Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi and South Sudan which officially joined the bloc yesterday.

” The Heads of State further directed partner states to undertake awareness creation programmes and other continuous outreach programmes on the new international ea e- passport,” reads part of the Communiqué that was issued after the Summit.

The bloc’s new electronic is said to be highly secure and difficult to duplicate when compared to the existing passports.

Electronic passports provide travellers with benefits such as use of automated border clearance or “E-gates”, automated issuance of boarding passes, and faster travel arrangements with airlines.

This article was published here