fbpx

East Africa’s Common Visa Suffers Setback After Tanzania Pulls Out

East Africa’s Common Visa Suffers Setback After Tanzania Pulls Out

Tanzania has pulled out of the East African Community (EAC) common visa, in a move described by analysts as a plan to protect itself from economic competition from the region’s other nations.

The decision effectively locks out Tanzania from ‘coalition of the willing’, an initiative by the region’s nations of Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda to promote tourism and enable their nationals to freely engage in business without restricted movement, Jamhuri News reported.

The visa is valid for three months. It was set to woo tourists form across the globe into the three nations as it markets the region as a single tourism destination.

Several foreign tour operators had in the past complained about the immigration hardships they faced at the respective border entry points into the nations.

The pull-out by Tanzania will however not affect the remaining nations from signing a cooperation pact on tourism to enable tourists move between the three nations using a common visa that will be charged $100 (10,122), $5 than the before.

Tanzania’s decision to pull out of the common visa comes three months after it pulled out of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EAP) with the European Union (EU).

The trade pact is meant to help the EAC members to directly export products into the EU market. The Tanzanian government took the decision to protect its local industries.

The confusion surrounding Britain’s withdrawal from the EU bloc also informed the decision, Daily Nation reported.

Uganda followed Tanzania, a decision which stopped the signing of the trade deal that could have allowed goods from the region into European market without paying duty.

Tanzania will also not be part of a common East Africa stand at the World Travel Market to be held next month in London, Britain.

The decision to pull-out of the visa plan points to economic differences between the nation and its neighbor, Kenya, the biggest economy in East Africa.

It pulled out of the joint Lamu Port Southern Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (Lapsset) project with Kenya, last year. Uganda too disapproved the plan with Kenya and instead chose the Tanzania route through the Tanga Port.