Visiting Ghana now made easier for Africans

Ghanian President John Dramani Mahama has announced that the country will offer visas on arrival to citizens of all 54 African Union (AU) member states starting July.
The president said this during the 59^th year of independence celebrations on Sunday.

Ghana’s new visa policy is big news in Africa where, according to the African Development Bank, only 25% of the countries offer visas on arrival to nationals of other African nations.
Ghana currently offers visa free entry for citizens of 15 countries within the Economic Community of West African States.

Only the Seychelles is known to have an open access visa policy applicable to citizens of all AU member states.
The president in his speech also advocated more unity across the continent urging his countrymen to learn French which is an official language in more than half of countries in Africa.
Opening its doors to other African nations could be crucial for Ghana. The travel and tourism industry accounts for 5.9% of its GDP.

Mahama did not say whether the new policy would include business visas, but at a time when foreign direct investment on the continent is falling, the country could benefit from opening its doors.