Africa Pricey flights and visa hurdles frustrate the promise of seamless travel

For the Kenyan DJ Coco Em, planning how to get around Africa for gigs can take as long as crafting her setlists.

- Eromo Egbejule

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, 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 up or stay grounded. She refused and went home.

Coco Em also recalled an occasion in 2019 when she had to pass through Saudi Arabia and Italy to get to Tunisia. At the boarding gate, airline employees asked her to perform to "prove" she was a DJ.