South Africa Begins Issuance Of 10 Years Visa To Nigerian Investors

Plans have reached an ad­vanced stage for the South African embassy in Nigeria to commence issuance of 10 years visas to Nigerian entre­preneurs and aviation practi­tioners.

This is as total trade volume between Nigeria and South Af­rica was estimated at $3 billion in 2022.

Speaking at the South Afri­ca Consulate/Aviators Africa Aviation Stakeholders Engage­ment hosted by Radisson Blu in Lagos over the weekend, Dr. Bobby Moroe, the Consul Gen­eral, South Africa Embassy in Lagos, said that the 10 years visa when it comes onboard, would replace the multiple three months visas issued to Nigerians by the South African government.

Moroe explained that the Ni­gerian business environment was very vast and it would be inappropriate to continue to issue only three months visas to citizens of the country, espe­cially those who transact busi­ness regularly between the two countries.

He explained that the ap­proval of a 10 years visa pe­riod for Nigerians would aid business, human resources, training and tourism expan­sion between the two coun­tries, stressing that rather for the two countries to compete, it was necessary for them to col­laborate to move the continent forward.

He emphasised that the op­portunity offered by the stake­holders’ engagement would enable participants to address some grey areas in the rela­tionship between Nigeria and South Africa, maintaining that it was necessary for aviation practitioners in the country to leverage on the memoran­dum of understanding (MoU) between the governments of the two countries to move the sector forward.

He said: “The South African government has decided that for the entire continent, especially for Nigerians, we should start issuing 10-year visas to investors and aviation practitioners. The Nigeria business sector is very vast and business and tourism sectors are intertwined.

“The issuance of 10-year vi­sas to Nigerians would aid busi­ness, training programmes in South Africa and it is also in exchange of human resourc­es between the two countries. We are here to put our heads together, exchange ideas on how we can innovate in the aviation industry. We should not limit ourselves to issuance of visas alone.