Tanzania scraps visa on arrival for Nigeria, Somalia, Mali and others

“We would really appreciate it if either the govt of Nigeria or Tanzania could confirm this new development. I spoke to an immigration officer in Darsalam but we deserve an official release to confirm, deny or possibly amend this new policy,” a follow-up tweet added.

https://twitter.com/funmioyatogun/status/1049604403261558784

The BBC Pidgin service also confirmed that someone they had spoken to confirmed the development. They added that the Tanzanian embassy in Nigeria had yet to respond to request for clarification. The development thrusts the issue of visa openness into focus with reports indicating that Intra-Africa travel was increasingly becoming more difficult for Africans even than for foreigners. Ethiopia became the latest to offer visa-on-arrival for all Africans, President Mulatu Teshome told parliament that Addis Ababa was due to roll out the move soon. Seychelles and Rwanda are leaders in that area.

The issue of national security and other economic considerations have been at the center of the visa hurdles. Records indicate that travel within sub-regions were also relatively easy as compared to moving between regions.

A Ghanaian seeking to enter Congo has to travel to either Togo or Ivory Coast to secure a visa even though the country has an embassy in Brazzaville, capital of Congo Republic.