No more visas from July 2016 – Gov’t assures ECOWAS citizens

The government of Ghana assures ECOWAS citizens that they will not have to apply for visa on arrival in Ghana with effect from July 2016.

It has come to the attention of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Regional Integration of Ghana that it has been reported in some sections of the online media in the Federal Republic of Nigeria that with effect from July 2016 Nigerian citizens traveling to Ghana will have to apply for visas on arrival into our country.

We wish to state that this is not the case, and all ECOWAS citizens including those from the Federal Republic of Nigeria will continue to be allowed entry into Ghana as per the provisions of the ECOWAS Protocol A/P.1/5/79 relating to Free movement of persons, residence and establishment, and which allows citizens of ECOWAS states to travel within the region without having to obtain visas prior to undertaking their journey.

President John Dramani Mahama announced in the State of the Nation Address presented to the Parliament of Ghana on the 25th of February this year that, with effect from July this year we would allow citizens of member states of the African Union (AU) to enter into Ghana and obtain visas on arrival with the option to stay for up to 30 days in our country.

Indeed earlier in his address he noted that it was possible to travel within ECOWAS member states without obtaining visas but this was not generally the case within the continent.

He further stated that the objective of this policy initiative was to open up Ghana to the rest of the continent and to stimulate increased air travel, trade, investments and tourism between our country and the rest of our continent.

We believe that some may have interpreted this new policy measure as one that would be applicable to all citizens of AU member states, however this is not the case.

We therefore wish to assure citizens of ECOWAS member states, including citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that they are welcome to travel to Ghana, and their entry into the country will not be affected by this new policy initiative we intend to introduce later this year.

(Signed)

Hanna S. Tetteh

Minister of Foreign Affairs & Regional Integration