Namibia has rolled back on a policy of awarding visa waivers for non- reciprocating countries

Non-reciprocated visa waiver policy experiment fails

Zambia’s southern neighbor, Namibia, has rolled back on a policy of awarding visa waivers for non- reciprocating countries.

Zambian authorities had in 2023 see link https://www.facebook.com/share/p/Y5GnHwcXWpGrnziH/?mibextid=xfxF2i
also adopted this policy by waiving visa requirements to about 43 non-reciprocating countries in a misguided aim of boosting tourism but cracks have now emerged in this loop sided policy.

Namibia has opted to re-adopt the well tested reciprocal treatment of diplomacy after the failed experiment (see attached press release). Reciprocated visa treatment is seen as a fair and equitable way to handle even economic diplomatic relations.

A Zambian Business Times – ZBT research revealed that about 90% of visitors and tourists to Zambia are from neighbouring counties and from within the Africa region but policy makers seem infatuated with tourists from outside the region, going against their own data and information on the ground.

This loop sided view and infatuation of attracting international visitors and tourists from abroad ignoring the source of 90% of the historical visitors has seen the Zambia Tourism Agency – ZTA award what some concerned stakeholders told ZBT to be a multi million dollar contract to a UK firm to market Zambia abroad.

ZTA awarded what some tourism stakeholders told ZBT to be a hefty multi million dollar contract to the UK’s Paul Charles (PC) agency to market Zambia as a preferred tourism destination in Europe and North America.

ZBT after corruption allegations against ZTA in the award of the contract to PC agency, contacted ZTA to respond to the allegations and share details of this contract under the newly signed Access to Information Act.

ZBT further raised the matter with the Minister of Tourism Rodney Sikumba and the Human Rights Commission, but all the three government institutions have remained mute to date.