Dangote laments 35 visas requirement to travel within Africa

Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest billionaire, has decried difficulties faced by investors travelling on the African continent on the requirement of 35 different visas on their Nigerian passports.

Dangote, who stated this recently at the Africa CEO Forum Annual Summit in Kigali, Rwanda, said, “I still complained to President Paul Kagame of Rwanda.

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“I told him that as an investor, I have to now apply for 35 different visas on my passport, and I told Mr. President, I really don’t have the time to go and be dropping my passports in embassies to get a visa,” he said.

“But you see, the most annoying thing is that yes, if you are treating everybody the same, then I can understand.

Using the French passport as an example, Dangote said Patrick Pouyanne, chairman of Total Energies, does not need 35 visas on his French passport to gain access to African countries.

“You don’t need 35 visas on your French passport. This means you have a freer movement than myself in Africa,” he lamented.

Speaking further on businesses within Africa, he said right now, “Our main job is to make sure the regional markets all work. Once they work, then we can now go to Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). But then, for AfCFTA also, we need to make sure that it works”.