Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy, has missed out on the free visa scheme for travellers from seven countries, such as India, China, Russia, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia and Thailand.
The visa scheme was announced by the Sri Lankan government on Tuesday. Sri Lanka, historically known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is an island country in South Asia.
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“The cabinet approves the issuing of free visas to India, China, Russia, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia, and Thailand with immediate effect as a pilot project till March 31,” Ali Sabry, Sri Lanka’s foreign minister, said on the social media platform X.
He said the move is expected to increase the number of tourists in the coming years and save money and time for travellers to obtain visas.
The minister added that apart from this, the cabinet has also proposed to introduce an e-ticketing system for most of the tourist destinations in the country in the near future.
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Earlier last week, the country’s tourism ministry announced that a proposal was tabled in the cabinet meeting to issue free tourist visas to travellers from five countries.
This is not the first time that Nigeria has missed out on visa-free opportunities for travellers.
In June of this year, Canada announced visa-free travel for visitors from 13 different countries across Asia, Africa, and Central and South America.
The visa-free travel was extended to Antigua and Barbuda, St. Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Kitts-Nevis, Panama, Argentina, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Morocco, Seychelles, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Thailand, and the Philippines, according to the Canadian government.
While North Africa’s Morocco and East Africa’s Seychelles joined the list.
