GHANA PRESIDENT, MAHAMA SAYS NIGERIANS & OTHER AU COUNTRIES MUST OBTAIN VISAS TO VISIT GHANA

Ghanaian President, John Dramani Mahama during an address to mark the 59th Independence anniversary of Ghana said effective July 2016, Nigerians and other members of African Union (AU) must obtain visas before gaining entry into Ghana.
Mahama said starting July, citizens of the other 53 Member States of the African Union (AU) can "obtain visas on arrival in Ghana with the option of staying for up to 30 days".

"In spite of its imperfections, the implementation of this protocol is a major stride towards regional integration and makes ECOWAS the only Regional Economic Community (REC) with a free-visa regime" , Mahama added.

The statement became a subject of discuss.

Some socio-political analysts say the prounouncement didnot come as a surprise while others argued that it was a step in the wrong direction as it would impede the goal of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) which is the unity of states that make up the West African sub-region, to be achieved by free movement of persons, goods and services, rights to Establishment and Residence which guarantees community citizens, a free-visa entry and stay in countries other than their own for 90 days at first instance.

Commentators who view the pronouncement as no surprise suggest that the new Ghanaian visa-on-arrival plan comes from their economic and political stability and an economy that is fast emerging as a digital-based mixed hybrid similar to that of Taiwan with increasing primary manufacturing and exportation of digital technology goods along with assembling and exportation of automobiles and ships, diverse resource rich exportation of industrial minerals, agricultural products primarily cocoa, petroleum as well as natural gas.