Buhari Unveils Nigeria’s New Visa Policy

Nigeria’s Muhammadu Buhari has unveiled a new visa policy, which, he says, is intended to attract innovation, specialized skills and knowledge from abroad.

The president had last November in Egypt announced the new visa policy, which he described as a “strategic decision to bring down barriers that have hindered the free movement of our people within the continent”.

The new policy sees the introduction of visas on arrival for short visits for holders of passports of African Union countries.

President Buhari said the policy will improve the business environment, attract Foreign Direct Investment and boost tourism without compromising national security.

There are 79 new categories which the government says is to ensure that “visas are more efficiently matched to the purpose of travel, thus helping improve the efficiency of processing and response”.

The government also announced a new biometric visa database, which is able to conduct checks for those on Interpol watch lists.

The new visa policy is expected to take Nigeria some steps up in the Africa Visa Openness Report published annually by the African Development Bank (AfDB), which would be a further boost on the global Ease of Doing Business table.