From bureaucratic burdens to extreme detours, travelling across Africa can be a nightmare – especially for Africans
For the Kenyan DJ Coco Em, planning how to get around Africa for gigs can take as much time as crafting her setlists.
Last November she was due to perform in Cape Verde, the archipelago state off the coast of west Africa, travelling from Nairobi via Europe – the only available route – on a one-year Schengen visa. But at the airport, the airline refused to let her board.
The DJ, who was born Emma Mbeke Nzioka, said she was told she had been deemed a flight risk, despite holding a valid visa and a return ticket with another airline. The airline’s staff insisted that she buy a return flight with them instead.
“Where does it say ‘you must fly back on the same airline you left with’?” she recalled saying. No answer came – only an ultimatum: pay within 15 minutes or stay grounded. Coco Em refused, requested her documents, and went home.
