Nigeria must learn one or two lessons from Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda which have loosened visa processes to allow more tourists.
These nations, including Mauritius, Ghana, Seychelles and Zanzibar, have reduced entry barriers by introducing electronic visas and visa-on-arrival processes that are seamless and efficient in a bid to attract tourists.
Recently, Paul Kagame, Rwanda president, announced that Rwanda has become a visa-free travel destination for all Africans.
The purpose of Rwanda’s declaration is to ensure free movement and pave the way for development of trade between Rwanda and the rest of the world.
Ghana similarly made history after it recently granted 524 people citizenship, most of whom are Philadelphians, thanks to a campaign asking Black Americans to “come home.”
Hundreds of Black Americans have migrated to Ghana in the past years after Nana Akufo-Addo, Ghana’s president, invited them to “come home.”
According to tourism experts, this move is targeted at attracting wealthy black Americans and using them to grow tourism spend in Ghana.
Morocco and Egypt also operate visa-on-arrival on the condition that the applicant has valid U.S, UK, Schengen or Canada visas.
In a recent Africa’s Visa Openness Index, Nigeria came sixth on the list.
Experts have linked the achievement to Nigeria’s improved visa processes and reduction in visa fee.
The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) reduced the biometric fee for Visa on Arrival (VOA) for African nationals from $170 to $120 on September 18, 2024
Four years after former President Muhammadu Buhari launched Nigeria’s visa-on-arrival (VoA) policy, the process of obtaining it has remained difficult, stifling investors interested in tapping opportunities in Africa’s most populous nation.
But in recent times, the visa process has improved, though experts say a lot still needs to be done to attract tourists.
Visa openness refers to the ease with which travellers can obtain authorisation to travel to and enter a country, pending the final determination by the destination country’s immigration officials.
The more visa-open a country is, the easier it is for a traveller to visit that country.
According to the report, top African countries with fewer travel restrictions are: Benin, Seychelles, The Gambia, Rwanda, Ghana, Nigeria, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania and Mauritius.
Experts say despite Nigeria’s ranking, which is remarkable, there are still grey areas that need to be addressed for the country to reap the fruits of its visa-on-arrival policies and attract tourists.
Read also: Infrastructure, policy seen as key to boosting Africa’s travel, tourism – Experts
Ikechi Uko, a travel business consultant and tourism developer, explained that Rwanda, Gambia, and the Seychelles are true tourism success stories based on visa openness.
“Going through the list of countries in Africa, you will see that countries where tourism contributes over 40 percent to export income are also in the top 10 on the Africa’s Visa Openness Index (AVOI) list.”
He said Ghana issued an order allowing all visitors to apply for a visa on arrival from December 1 2024 to January 15 2025, in order to generate more tourists for the ‘December in Ghana Tourism project.’
Why Nigeria may not benefit from visa-free policy
According to Uko, Nigeria might not benefit from the visa-free policy because there is no national plan to attract African tourists. He noted that Lagos, Cross River, and a few other states have been marketing globally but not at the scale expected from a big country like Nigeria.
“Compared to Rwanda, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and the Gambia, Nigeria is yet to start. Hopefully, the country will wake up soon,” he said.
Uko said Nigerian airports have not improved their connectivity since 2010, even with the new Chinese-built airports in Abuja and Lagos.
He said there are no top quality transfers and interlining desks and sections at Nigerian airports.
“In the last one year, I have travelled through Lagos, Abuja, Cotonou, Accra, Lome, Abidjan, Banjul and Dakar airports and I know of those airports that have better transfer connections than Lagos or Abuja,” he said.
He said Kigali has risen to become the second biggest Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions tourism (MICE) destination in Africa after Cape Town based on the Visa Openness’ report.
“I saw this growth happen before my eyes. In 2014, the whole MICE project was at its beginning, and I knew the team that worked on the project.
“Today, it is drawing millions of dollars to Rwanda. Ghana is using Fifth Freedom as a strategy to grow its airport as a hub. What is the airline and airport strategy for Nigeria, especially now that we have the right policy for visa openness?” he asked.
The travel expert said Nigeria currently does not have a MICE strategy to grow its tourism earnings.
What Nigeria must do
Susan Akporaiye, managing director and CEO, Topaz Travels and Tours and former president of the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA), told BusinessDay that Rwanda has become a top country Nigerians travel to because it does not require visas.
“I have sold a lot of Rwanda packages. Because you don’t pay visa fees, it makes Rwanda more affordable. What you have to pay for is just the hotel and activities you would engage in,” Akporaiye said.
She said Accra is not as big as Lagos but is utilising the few attractions it has to make money.
“We have so many attractions. We need accessible and sellable attractions. We need to understand what we have, document it and be deliberate about it.
“Accra does not require a visa at all. If such small African countries are making huge differences with what they have, then we need to wake up. People want to go to Accra more than they want to go to Obudu Cattle Ranch, Yankari Game Reserve, Kano, Ogbunike Caves etc,” she said.
“We need to address our security issues. Accommodation in Nigeria is quite expensive. Accra is cheaper than going to Obudu because of the high cost of our hotels in Nigeria. These destinations are not being documented,” she said.
However, Seyi Adewale, the chief executive officer of Mainstream Cargo Limited, said Nigeria is already on the pathway to emulating African countries that are a delight for tourists, citing the Visa Openness Index report.
Adewale said there is a need to work with Nigeria’s respective consular offices within Africa to deliberately target the type of people the nation needs to attract and also understand their biases or interests.
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