The Angolan government has introduced several initiatives to encourage investment and business opportunities in the oil rich country since former president José Eduardo dos Santos stepped down.
Citizens from Namibia, South Africa, Mozambique, the Cape Verde, Rwanda and Zambia can now enter Angola without having to apply for a business or tourist visa. Image credit: travelstart
The first new president in 38 years, João Lourenço, took over at the end of 2017. One of his first initiatives was to relax the visa requirements for countries like Botswana, Mauritius, the Seychelles, Zimbabwe and notably Singapore.
Citizens from Namibia, South Africa, Mozambique, the Cape Verde, Rwanda and Zambia can now enter Angola without having to apply for a business or tourist visa.
“It is clearly an effort by the Angolan government to encourage business and investments into the country, and to alleviate the unavailability of foreign currency in the country and the challenges behind that,” says Tarissa Wareley, immigration specialist at Xpatweb.
Another innovative decision is to allow people to conduct business under a tourist visa. “A tourist visa will now suffice, even though visitors will be doing business or negotiating investments,” says Wareley.
The government has also extended the validity of the tourist visa from 90 days to 120 days, and the introduction of e-visa applications has streamlined the process to allow for easy access into the country. The e-visa will be issued within 24 hours.
Read the full story in African Mining’s ‘Africa Buzz’, in the February issue.