Ghana Assures Nigerians of Entry without Visa

Fri, Apr 8, 2016
By publisher
2 MIN READ

Africa

– 

The government of Ghana assures ECOWAS citizens that they will not have to apply for visa on arrival in the country with effect from July 2016 in line with ECOWAS Protocol on Free Movement of Persons, Residence and Establishment

THE ministry of foreign affairs and regional integration of Ghana has debunked reports in some sections of the online media in Nigeria that with effect from July 2016, Nigerian citizens travelling to Ghana will have to apply for visas on arrival to country.

A statement from the ministry which was made available to Realnews on April 7, said that all ECOWAS citizens including those from Nigeria “will continue to be allowed entry into Ghana as per the provisions of the ECOWAS Protocol A/P .1/5/79 relating to Free Movement of Persons, Residence and Establishment, and which allows citizens of ECOWAS states to travel within the region without having to obtain visas prior to undertaking their journey.”

“President John Dramani Mahama announced in the State of the Nation Address presented to the Parliament of Ghana on 25th of February this year that, with effect from July this year, we would allow citizens of member states of the African Union to enter into Ghana’ and obtain visas on arrival with the option to stay for up to thirty (30) days in our country.

“Indeed earlier in his address, he noted that it was possible to travel within ECOWAS member states without obtaining visas but this was not generally the case within the continent. He further stated that the objective of this policy initiative was to open up Ghana to the rest of the continent and to stimulate increased air travel, trade, investments and tourism between our country and the rest of our continent.

“We believe that some may have interpreted this new policy measure as one that would be applicable to all citizens of the African Union (AU) member states, however, this is not the case,” the statement said.

The ministry assured citizens of ECOWAS member states, including Nigeria that “they are welcome to travel to Ghana, and their entry into the country will not be affected by this new policy initiative we intend to introduce later this year.”

—  Apr 18, 2016 @ 01:00 GMT

|

Tags: