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Visas for Africa

FOR as long as global commerce has been a financial reality, Europe and the rest of the first world have wittered on about the lack of transparency and opaque business practices of what they termed the dark continent.

Meanwhile, Africa has soldiered on as the world tries to recover from the economic turmoil of the 2008 credit crunch, which resulted from its own dabbling in the opaque.

Certainly the mindset of corporate South Africa increasingly seems to turn to exploiting trade and relationships across Africa, rather than the single-minded focus towards Europe and the USA prevalent less than a decade ago.

The visa business in South Africa has seen a dramatic change from the almost exclusive focus on Schengen countries for the South African executive travelling on business. Today, visas are far more likely to be needed for neighbouring states.

While not entirely scientific, migration and visa specialist Global Visas' internal data on who is doing business with who and where makes for interesting reading around the changing economic landscape of Africa.

Over the past 18 months there has been a massive 300% increase in visa applications from South Africans for Nigeria, says Daniel Anvari-Brown of Global Visas South Africa.

Given the country’s emerging powerhouse reputation, this is perhaps not so surprising. But while Nigeria may dominate headlines when it come to Africa's economic growth, it is certainly not the only market in favour with domestic business. 

Over the same period, says Anvari-Brown, records show an impressive growth trajectory for South Africans needing visas to do business in Uganda and Ghana, with increases of 230% and 115% respectively. 

Similarly, data from London shows executives from the UK are also beating a path to Africa to do business, with most interest again being weighted towards Nigeria and the colonially familiar Kenya.

Iron out those visa fallacies

But while trade may be on the up and bilateral agreements across the continent may all be promising greater cooperation, South African business would be well advised that bureaucracy seldom feels motivated by the same pressures. 

Likewise, a surprisingly large swathe of South African executives needs to repeat the mantra “Africa is a continent and not a country”.

The most frequent erroneous assumption is that no visa will be required for pretty much anywhere on the continent, if the traveller bears a South African passport.

“Did you know you need a visa for Uganda?” is often bellowed down the telephone at the Global Visas offices in lieu of a formal greeting by exasperated businessmen and women, who invariably find themselves turned back at the airport.

And no matter what you may have seen depicted in a thousand movies about getting things done in Africa, whipping out a wodge of cash and waving it under the immigration officer’s nose is likely to get you carted off to a cell rather than immediate access and VIP treatment.

Similarly, while giving deadlines to underlings in your employ is to be recommended as a strategy for getting things done on time, it is not a course of action that is advisable for the governments of other countries that you wish to visit.

“My flight is booked for tomorrow morning, so you have to issue the visa immediately,” seems not to be a compelling reason if the number of clients who present themselves after a missed flight is any indication, says Anvari-Brown.

There’s no great mystery to travelling for leisure or business across Africa in the modern age. If anything, the great mystery seems to reside in our heads.

While South Africans happily spend weeks researching every possible vaccination, visa and introduction letter they could possibly require when going on holiday to far-flung destinations, many seem to have a stubborn blind spot when it comes to travelling around Africa.

Online resources about visa and vaccination requirements for South Africans who want to travel to other African countries are plentiful and easily accessible. 

Do yourself and your burgeoning business empire a favour and know before you go, says Anvari-Brown.


 

 
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