SA, Nigeria in visa row

Johannesburg - A political storm over visas threatens to derail trade relations between South Africa and Nigeria, and has already obliged Business Unity South Africa (Busa) to call off a high-profile visit to Abuja over the weekend.

Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe and various ministers have been in Nigeria, one of the most important African markets, since Friday, to participate in the 10-year celebrations of the South Africa-Nigeria Bi-National Commission (BNC). The objective is to strengthen co-operation between the countries, but the visit is being totally overshadowed by the visa debacle.

A couple of weeks ago the Nigerian government introduced "obstructive" visa requirements for South African businesspeople, by now calling for a R6 000 deposit per application. Although this is refundable, the attached conditions are obscure, says Busa director Catherine Grant.

Passports may be handed in on Monday mornings only and the process takes two weeks, causing difficulties for business people who travel regularly. In addition, the stickers for Nigerian visas ran out this week, putting paid to Busa chief executive Jerry Vilakazi's plan to visit the conference.

Observers reckon that the timing of the new requirements, shortly before Motlanthe's visit, is intended to give South Africans a stiff dose of their own medicine. Nigerian businesspeople have for years had to comply with similar demands, which are designed to prevent them from remaining in South Africa illegally.

Complaints about waiting for hours to apply in Nigeria, and month-long delays in issuing the visas are also common.

Multinational companies, including MTN and KPMG, experience huge problems in sending Nigerian staff here to work or for training, says Dianna Games, manager of the South Africa-Nigeria Chamber of Business.

Although this was an item on the BNC agenda last year, South Africa's Department of Home Affairs is believed not to have bothered to turn up for the discussions on the issue.

"The relationship between South Africa and Nigeria is fairly hostile on various counts, and this will certainly not help. One has to ask whether Nigeria perhaps regards it as insulting to see that President Jacob Zuma visits countries like Angola and Equatorial Guinea with great fanfare, but does not accompany Motlanthe for this conference," commented another source.

Although Busa has withdrawn from the conference, about 13 small companies will accompany the Department of Trade & Industry to Nigeria. The visa problems have had a negative impact on the number of companies that will eventually attend, declared an official.

- Sake24.com

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