Ghanaians no longer need a visa to travel to South Africa

General News of Thursday, July 11, 2019

Source: kasapafmonline.com

2019-07-11

Ghanaians traveling to South Africa no longer need a visa to travel after the South African government has added Ghana to its list of visa-free countries.

In addition to Ghana, countries such as Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Cuba and Sao Tome and Principe have also been added to the list of visa-free countries in South Africa.

The announcement was made via a message on the twitter account of Home Affairs of South Africa.

According to South Africa's Minister of Home Affairs, Aaron Motsoaledi, of the 193 UN member countries, the Department has granted visa-free status to 75 countries.

He said that 16 out of 75 are in "our [African] SADC members and 59 are from around the world. Ghana is one of seven countries added to the list of visa-free countries.

"We are doing this by making it easier for our partner departments, such as Tourism, to increase their tourism figures. Tourism will soar if we relax visa requirements to enter South Africa. We know that tourism is very important for creating jobs, "he said.

Below are excerpts from the declaration of the Minister of the Interior regarding the visa exemption:

Although the main mandate of the Ministry of the Interior is the issuance of identification, we also contribute significantly to economic growth.

We do this by making life easier for our partner departments, such as Tourism, to increase their tourism figures. Tourism will soar if we relax visa requirements to enter South Africa. We know that tourism is very important for job creation.

Of the 193 UN member countries, the Department has granted visa-free status to 75 countries. Of these, 16 are on our continent and are members of SADC and 59 come from all over the world.

Today, we want to announce an addition to our countries without a visa.

These are:

Qatar

United Arab Emirates

New Zealand

Saudi Arabia

Cuba

Ghana

Sao Tome and Principe

We will immediately begin discussions with them on the operation of a visa-free regime.

We still have work to do for 3 countries with a total population of almost 30% of the world's population, namely China, India and Nigeria.

While we are busy dealing with the issue of the three countries.

For the time being, in this exercise, we will increase the number of people working for the Ministry of the Interior by two and a half times to process visas in China and India.

We are going to double the number of people who process visas in our country in Nigeria.