The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) on Tuesday officially presented Nigeria’s Visa policy at the Statehouse, Abuja.
This was announced by the President’s Personal Assistant on New Media, Bashir Ahmad, on his verified Twitter handle.The policy expected to “boost economic activities in the areas of tourism, aviation, entertainment, commerce and other areas where Nigeria has a comparative advantage over other African countries”.
A key provision of the policy is the opportunity it gives to Africans visiting Nigeria to obtain their visas on arrival at the country’s four international airports in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Kano.
President Buhari said the review of the visa policy is intended to attract innovation, specialised skills and knowledge from abroad to complement local ones. The 2020 visa policy is to enhance business opportunities and achieve African integration through the visas on arrival for holders of passports of African Union countries.
Nigeria’s Visa Policy
There are 79 visa classifications in the revised policy, one of which is the Visa on arrival. The revised policy is a sequel to Buhari’s pronouncements in November 2019 that a new policy of visas on arrival would be granted to all African travellers starting from January 2020.
The new policy favours Africans with a valid passport who wish to come into the country for a short visit, for businesses and for tourism, as the Visa grants them legal stay for up to 90 days.
