This archive report was first published on 13 December 2019.
As part of efforts to promote the free movement of Africans within Africa, Nigeria is set to roll out a visa on arrival policy for all Africans entering the country from January 2020.
This move aligns with the African Union's Free Movement of Persons and African Passport policy, which was adopted in 2016. The policy aims to facilitate the movement of Africans across the continent without the need for visas.
According to the directive, African states are expected to adopt the African passport and work closely with the AU Commission to facilitate its issuance at the national level. However, no country has yet given the AU passport to ordinary citizens.
Research by the African Development Bank (ADB) has shown that Africans need visas to travel to just under half (49%) of other African countries. They could get visas on arrival in just over a quarter (26%) of states and did not need visas in a quarter (25%) of countries.
Nigeria's adoption of the visa on arrival policy will make it the third country to do so, after Kenya and Ethiopia. The policy will allow visitors to make the journey and get visas upon arrival at any of Nigeria's entry points, without the need to fill out paperwork beforehand.
