Nigeria and UAE Reach Agreement to Resume Travel and Visa Issuance
Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates have reached an agreement allowing the resumption of travel between the two countries, Nigeria’s Information Minister Mohammed Idris announced on Monday. The deal, which takes effect immediately, includes the resumption of visa issuance for Nigerian passport holders traveling to the UAE. “This agreement includes updated controls and conditions to facilitate obtaining a UAE visa,” Idris said in a statement. The move is expected to boost travel and economic activities between the two nations, providing relief to many who rely on the connectivity for business and personal reasons.
This development comes after the UAE had halted visa issuance to Nigerians in 2022, following Dubai’s Emirates Airline suspending flights due to difficulties in repatriating funds from Nigeria. The recent clearance of approximately $137 million in foreign exchange owed by Nigeria’s central bank and the resulting financial dispute led Emirates and Etihad Airways to suspend their flights to Nigeria.
Additionally, the ban was influenced by broader diplomatic disagreements and concerns about the behavior of travelers from certain countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, efforts to resolve these issues culminated in high-level meetings between Nigerian President Bola Tinubu and UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in 2023 and 2024. These meetings resulted in agreements to lift the visa ban, resume flight operations, and establish a new framework for significant investments between the two countries.
The resolution of these disputes was facilitated by Nigeria’s steps to address the repatriation of trapped funds and negotiate new economic and diplomatic terms with the UAE. As a result, the UAE announced the lifting of the visa ban and the resumption of Emirates Airlines flights to Nigeria by October 2024.
