John Dramani Mahama, president of Ghana, announced the new measures during the country’s 59th independence celebration.
March 6th was an important day for Ghana, as the nation celebrated its independence day. During the event, president Mahama announced that starting this year’s July, all the 54 African Union (AU) citizens will receive arrival visas when visiting Ghana, as the country currently allows free entry only for the citizens of 15 countries from the Economic Community of West African States.
Although the president didn’t specified if the new regulations apply to business visas as well, the new visa policy marked an important step for African residents, as opening the borders to other African nations could play a crucial role for Ghana’s tourism industry. According to the African Development Bank data, only a quarter of the continent’s countries offer visas on arrival to other country’s nationals. Except for Seychelles, which has an open access visa policy, African countries have restricted visa policies that makes it difficult for African tourists to travel within the continent.
Moreover, during his independence day speech, president John Dramani Mahama called for its people to learn French in order to easier develop easier relationships with natives and visitors from francophone neighbor-countries like Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Togo.
The latest measures are considered highly beneficial for the country’s economy, as travel and tourism industry accounts for 5.9% of Ghana’s GDP.
(c) travelandtourworld.com
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