In a major change to its current visa policy, Nigeria’s president Muhammadu Buhari announced on Thursday 12th December 2019, that the country will begin issuing visas on arrival for all African nationals. President Buhari announced the plan while attending a peace and development summit in Egypt.

This liberalised visa policy comes on the back of the signing of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, a treaty seeking to establish a continent-wide marketplace with increased trade and freer movement among its major pillars. When this policy is implemented by January 2020 as promised, Nigeria will join Kenya and Ethiopia as countries which have this visa on arrival policies for all African nationals. Although the exact details of the new policy remain unrevealed however, this new development is going to affect Nigeria in a lot of positive ways such as increase in Tourism and Trade.

Technological progress and market competition have radically reduced the costs of air travel and other means of transportation as well as communication over increasingly large distances and international market integration has enormously expanded opportunities for business, trade, investment and tourism. As a consequence, the world has seen an unprecedented rise in the migration of people, goods and services, and capital. Countries tend to grant visa-free access to their allies and close partners and the imposition of visa restrictions is typically regarded as an unfriendly act by the governments of the affected countries.

Beforehand, an African National (except Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Cote d’ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Togo who are already exempted and Kenya National who is permitted to obtain visa on arrival for a maximum stay of 90 days) who wishes to travel to Nigeria must apply for a travel visa, which is usually valid for only a short period of time (between 30 to 180 days). The applicant can do this either via post, which can take weeks or months to be processed, or in person, which requires visiting the country’s embassy or one of its consulates which can ask for processing fees, impose long waiting times, and possibly deny the visa with or without giving any reasons.. Alternatively, such person can employ a professional visa service which charges a substantial fee in addition to the cost of the visa itself. However, with this latest development, one (African National) can apply for visa upon arrival in the country. The pecuniary and non-pecuniary costs of receiving a visa will be substantially reduced and this will encourage tourism inflow; it will also encourage bilateral trade and foreign investment.

One challenge faced by countries with strict visa restriction is that flows in tourists, goods and services, and capital are redirected to other visa-free destinations. This implies significant economic costs for both visa-issuing and visa-targeted countries, but it creates benefit and economic advantage to countries with a more liberal visa policy. I believe that this liberalised visa policy would in particular help Nigeria to partake more in the benefits of economic globalisation.

Although cross-border movement of people could have its own negative effect such as security reasons and fear that visitors might become illegal immigrants, on the one hand, it has the economic benefits that are typically associated with movements in the form of tourism, trade, and the investment of foreign capital.

Tourism is one of the largest industries in the World. The tourism sector, which has shown significant growth in recent years, not only maintains the economic growth of countries, but also revives the economy, increases employment and increases the value of the local currency by increasing the inflow of foreign currency. Labour-intensive nature of the sector provides it to play a more active role in growth for underdeveloped and developing countries with inadequate capital such as Nigeria.

For the tourism industry, it is literally true that ‘freedom of travel is freedom to trade’. Tourists, foreign suppliers and investors usually have a significant economic interest in the country to which they wish to export their goods and services or wish to invest their capital in. However, much of international trade and the investing of capital in a foreign country require personal or face-to-face contact with trading and investment partners. This new liberal visa policy will establish and subsist this personal and face to face relationship and ensure all economic opportunities in Nigeria are thoroughly explored. It will also make it easier for friends and family to visit foreign employees in Nigeria. In addition, this new policy has made Nigeria to be more attractive as a location in which to situate headquarters for International Companies.

Research has shown that during world Cup and Olympics Games, the host countries do enjoy increase in trade for that period of time due to the increase and inflow of Tourists. This has established the effect tourism can have on the economy of a country. I believe there are large businesses and leisure opportunities in Nigeria which will attract Tourists and Investors, this action directed to reduce visa restrictions could become a prominent policy fostering socio-economic development in Nigeria’s emerging economy.

However, it is important to also state that Nigeria’s relaxed visa rules come with a tinge of irony at this time as while the country is opening its skies to all Africans, its land borders remain closed, a move said by the government to target stopping of influx of smuggled goods.

In conclusion, this is a commendable move by the government as we look forward to the commencement of the new policy and its positive impact on Nigeria’s economy.