Nigeria has announced it will roll out a Visa on Arrival policy for all Africans entering the country.
According to President Muhammadu Buhari, the new policy will kick off in 2020, with visas issued at the point of entry to all African passport holders. He made the announcement at the Aswan Forum in Egypt, indicating that the move is aimed at facilitating “the free movement of Africans within Africa.”
Nigeria is committed to supporting the free movement of Africans within Africa. Yesterday at the Aswan Forum in Egypt I announced that, in January 2020, we will commence issuance of visas at the point of entry into Nigeria, to all persons holding passports of African countries.
— Muhammadu Buhari (@MBuhari) December 12, 2019
Regional body ECOWAS already legislates the free movement of people and goods within the 16-member signatory countries, of which Nigeria is part. However, most of the countries are yet to remove restrictions to free movement.
The current policy means that people visiting Nigeria will no longer need to fill paperwork before they arrive. Instead, they can make the journey and get visas on arrival at any of Nigeria’s entry points.
The announcement comes on the heels of Nigeria’s recent blockade of neighbouring countries Benin, Niger, and Chad to curtail what it says is “the incidence of smuggling in and out of the country.”
Nigeria also recently signed up to the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), an initiative by the African Union to allow free trade among member countries
