Kenya President Ruto meets Zimbabwean envoy

Kenyan President William Ruto on Friday urged African countries to rethink their visa regimes to boost intra-Africa trade and position the continent for transformation.

Ruto said African states should facilitate people-to-people, business-to-business and government-to-government affairs not create barriers.

"The people who introduced visas to Africa have abandoned them. In Europe today, citizens of the 27 countries in the European Union don't need visas to travel from one country to the other," Ruto said.

He spoke on Thursday when he met President Emerson Mnangagwa's special envoy, Ambassador Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, at State House Nairobi.

Ruto said he will hold discussions with his Zimbabwean counterpart on a visa-free regime between the two countries.

He also said they will discuss the need for more flights from Nairobi to Harare and vice versa.

Ruto added that Kenya opposes the continued economic sanctions against Zimbabwe, adding that they are unnecessary.

"At a time of economic difficulty, climate change effects and pandemics sanctions only exacerbate the burden on the citizens of Zimbabwe," he said.