The Federal Government is set to review the nation’s visa policy to attract foreign investments and boost visits to the country.
The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed this at the Transcorp Hotel, Abuja during a stakeholders consultative meeting on Nigeria visa on Saturday.
Tunji-Ojo stated that last year’s visitor numbers was inadequate compared to the country’s population and resources, noting that policy on visas has to be reviewed to meet the standards of the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
He said, “We are determined to make sure that in the next couple of weeks, by the grace of God, the new implementation framework will be on the ground.
And people all over the world will start having easy access to the country. We want to welcome investment and people. Just last year, the number of foreign passengers that came to Nigeria whether Nigerians or non, was just less than two million people.
“That is unacceptable for a country of over 200 million people. It means that we are limiting investment and import of forex among other things. So, once we get the visa policy right and we get the implementation framework perfect, then definitely the economic prosperity will come.”
He stressed that a visa policy that attracts investments and encourages visitors to visit Nigeria from across the world without putting the country’s security in jeopardy
Speaking further, the minister stated that though it was difficult to reach a balance between easy access to visa and national security considering its delicate nature “if gotten right, it would no doubt lead to a healthy investment promotion for Nigeria”.
He said, “You see, seamless access to any country is key for investment promotion, job creation, foreign direct investment. In short, it is key to whatever a particular country wants to do or achieve to enable it to progress
The logic is that everything is built on effective visa administration. So, we are here to really talk about it and to be able to streamline the process for the better. Especially, in areas of short stay visa and even our other categories of visa to see how we can optimise them and make it more efficient in such a way that will be able to attract more investment”.
