ZAMBIA is among 61 countries whose passport holders will be able to be granted a visa for Angola on arrival in the country as a major step to boost tourism.
The new measure is set to take effect on March 31, according to Africa Review, quoting Rádio Nacional de Angola (RNA) yesterday.
Angola named the beneficiary countries as including the 28- European Union states and the Portuguese-speaking countries bloc.
Botswana, Mauritius, Namibia, Seychelles, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Singapore will also benefit from the new Angola visa rule. Other African countries on the list are Algeria, Madagascar, Malawi, Morocco, Lesotho, Swaziland and Zambia.
The European states of Northern Ireland, Iceland, Monaco, Norway, the UK, Russia, Switzerland and Vatican City will also benefit from the new Luanda visa rule American beneficiaries of the visa simplification process are Argentina, Canada, Chile, Cuba, the US, Uruguay and Venezuela. The Asian beneficiaries are China, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, India, Indonesia, Israel and Japan.
The nationals of Australia, New Zealand and Timor-Leste will also be granted the Angolan visa on arrival.
Africa Review quotes Rádio Nacional de Angola (RNA) as saying that the visitors will only need to submit their accommodation and subsistence means to get the tourism visa in Luanda.
The international certificate of vaccination, a return ticket and a valid passport will also be required for the granting of the 30-day visa.
The presidential decree, RNA added, will be in force from March 30. An invitation letter, which will no longer be a condition for visa application, was a handicap for many tourists wishing to visit Angola.
The Angolan government says that the tourism sector will create one million jobs by 2020. Angola’s tourism industry is relatively new because much of the country was destroyed during the post-colonial civil war, which ended in 2002 The tourism sector is mainly private and its development and expansion will greatly diversify the country’s economy.- NAN