Africans traveling to Nigeria to get visas on arrival from Jan. 2020 – Buhari

All Africans wishing to travel to Nigeria will now be able to get a visa on arrival from January, dropping the requirement that they apply in advance.

President Muhammadu Buhari made the announcement in a meeting of African leaders on Wednesday that it was part of a commitment to ensuring freedom of movement on the continent.

According to Buhari, the move shows Nigeria’s commitment to “free movement of Africans within Africa.”

Nigeria is committed to supporting the free movement of Africans within Africa. Yesterday at the Aswan Forum in Egypt I announced that, in January 2020, we will commence issuance of visas at the point of entry into Nigeria, to all persons holding passports of African countries.

— Muhammadu Buhari (@MBuhari) December 12, 2019

Presently, citizens of countries that belong to the regional group Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) already have visa-free access to Nigeria.

This step taken by the Nigerian president should mean other African visitors will not need to fill out paperwork before they arrive.

However, it is not clear how new this is as a notice on the immigration service website earlier this year appeared to show that visa on arrival for Africans was already in place.