FG Moves to Attract More Investors into the Country with New Visa on Arrival Policy

The Nigerian government has released a revised version of its Visa policy for 2020. The policy, made public on the 4th of February at the State House, grants visa on arrival to international investors and citizens of other African countries.

This development comes just a few days after the US government placed travel restrictions on Nigeria, prompting one to wonder if this is the FG’s response to that situation.

The new visa policy grants people who have passports from African countries visa on arrival and allows them stay in the Country for 90 days. The policy covers 79 categories, cutting across sectors like health, tourism, education and business.

Attracting businessmen and investors into the country from Africa will be a more achievable goal as the policy makes five different visa classifications for investors. They are listed below:

Investors Visa

• N3A Investors Visa (Small Enterprise)
• N3B Investors Visa (Medium Enterprise)
• N3C Investors Visa (Large Corporations)
• N3D Investors Visa (Ultra Large Corporations)
• N3E Investors Visa (Oil/Gas/Power Sector)

The visa on arrival however, isn’t for just anybody. To be eligible for it, one has to be a business person of international repute, executives of multinationals and other high net worth individuals

Eligibility

• Frequently travelled Business Persons of International Repute
• Executives of Multi-national Companies
• Members of Government Delegations
• Holders of United Nations Laissez-Passer
• Holders of African Union Laissez-Passer,
• Holders of any other Official travel documents of other recognized International Organizations who intend to visit Nigeria.

This development is one of the government’s move to attract more investors and businesses into the country. With ease of entrance, tourists will not find it as challenging to make the country a choice destination.

Recently, we reported that in 2019 Nigeria attracted the largest number of startup investments in Africa. The country is home to a large and increasing number of startups who have raised funds from investors in and outside the country.

Investments in startups are spread across the country, with most of them in the country’s megacity, Lagos.

While the visa on arrival policy sounds like a welcome development, internal policies that make portray Nigeria as a country where foreign investments are not safe should be frowned upon. One such policy is the recent proscription of the activities of bike-hailing companies in Lagos which has left investors reeling.

This will ensure that as investors are attracted into the country, they are also interested in actively investing in startups and established companies within the economy.