Four years after former President Muhammadu Buhari launched Nigeria’s visa-on-arrival (VoA) policy, the process of obtaining it has remained difficult, stifling investors interested in tapping opportunities in Africa’s most populous nation. BusinessDay’s checks show that while other African countries charge between $40 to $100 for a visa on arrival, Nigeria charges over $200. Some applicants are denied visas despite fulfilling all requirements put in place by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS).
For those whose visas are approved, they often face delays in getting approval forms and some miss their dates of travel. Read also: Explainer all you need to know about nigeria’s visa on arrival process In addition to these, the processes of payments, obtaining receipt for payments and online approvals is also challenging as applicants have recently complained that the technology that supports the application system faces hitches that have been left unresolved. Most times, applicants who have made payments online and received receipts do not get approval forms from the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS).
Some airlines do not allow these applicants to board the flights, as the application form is one of the requirements to fly into Nigeria. Olúwatósìn Olaseinde, founder of Money Africa and Ladda, a financial literacy and investment platform, recently posted via her X (formally Twitter) handle that she was in a group where a multinational was hosting a conference in Abuj.