Ghana becomes the next country to open up visa-free entry for South African passport holders for periods of 90 days.

Ghana opens up to South African nationals. Image: Unsplash

Ghana is another country that will open its doors to South African passport holders by allowing visa-free entry.

South African passport holders have seen increasing mobility in recent months. 

This is due to a rising number of countries relaxing entry restrictions, or allowing easier entry for SA nationals, by virtue of e-visas.

VISA WAIVER FOR SOUTH AFRICA

BBC reports that the governments of Ghana and South Africa have signed a visa waiver agreement. 

A reciprocal visa waiver will be implemented for passport holders from both countries.

This will therefore allow visa-free entry for citizens of both countries.

From next month, Ghana will allow South African nationals to enter and stay for periods of up to 3 months.     

90 DAY RULE

The agreement will take effect on 1 November. This will allow visa-free entry for holders of ordinary passports from both countries for a cumulative period of up to 90 days per year (without the right to seek employment).

Tourism Update reports that South Africa has already made it easier for passport holders from Ghana to enter SA when it added Ghana to the eVisa platform.

This enabled Ghanaians to apply for entry visas to South Africa without needing to visit the SA High Commission.

The South African High Commission in Ghana states that once the 90 days is exhausted within 12 months, ordinary passport holders must apply for a visa to enter South Africa.

TOURISM SOURCE COUNTRY 

The move is expected to draw interest from Ghanaian nationals who are an increasingly important tourism source country for South Africa.

Entry visas for South Africa cost 280 USD (ZAR 5320) for Ghana passport holders.

SA has seen rising numbers of visitors from African countries post the Covid-19 pandemic. Furthermore, South African Airways also offers several flights a week from Accra in Ghana to Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport.

• Department of Employment and Labour director-general Thobile Lamati has resigned.

• His resignation follows a R5 billion scandal at the UIF which was stopped in its tracks.

• It also follows calls from business and labour for intervention in the UIF`s `chaotic` administration.

The director-general of the Department of Labour and Employment, Thobile Lamati, has resigned. 

His resignation follows reports of backing a controversial project to channel billions from the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) into a private investment company, as part of a job creation scheme. 

Lamati conveyed the news to his top management in a WhatsApp message earlier today. 

Lamati`s fate has been in the balance for the past month, as President Cyril Ramaphosa considered a report on the matter submitted by Minister of Labour and Employment Thulas Nxesi. Only Ramaphosa has the power to hire and fire directors-general. 

While the contents of Nxesi`s report are unknown, it was an open secret in the department that he wanted Lamati out. The scheme in question involved an R5 billion transaction part loan and part grant funding - with Thuja Capital, owned by businessman Mthunzi Mdwaba. 

Under the scheme, Mdwaba would buy stakes in various companies and then use his power as a shareholder to promote job creation. Thuja Capital was hastily registered last December, shortly before Lamati and UIF commissioner Teboho Maruping pushed for the deal to happen. But the transaction was scuppered by a report in the Sunday Times that exposed the plan. 

Maruping`s future is still to be determined. A departmental official said that they now expected `the dominoes to start falling`.

Earlier this month, Business Unity SA (BUSA) and Cosatu called for a crackdown on the UIF, which they described as chaotic and dysfunctional. They appealed to Nxesi and Ramaphosa to put the fund under administration. The UIF is an employer- and employee-funded social security fund collected through a payroll tax on all formal sector workers. 

But workers, who can draw on the funds when they become unemployed or take maternity leave, are made to wait months for benefits, if these are paid at all, due to UIF repeated systems failure. 

The UIF has generated large surpluses over time. At present it sits on investments of about R130 billion, managed by the Public Investment Corporation (PIC).

1. The Minister of Home Affairs (“Minister”) has considered the Full Court judgment (Gauteng Division, Pretoria) on the application for leave to appeal in the Helen Suzman Foundation (“HSF”) v Minister of Home Affairs (“Minister”) and Another (ZEP matter) dismissing the application for leave to appeal lodged by him.

2. The Minister has also taken legal advice on the judgment. The Minister has decided to exhaust the legal remedies available to him. To this end, he has already instructed his legal representatives to lodge an application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal (“SCA”) without any delay.

3. The Minister believes that the matter is of such great public importance to deserve the attention of a higher court.

4. The Minister is encouraged by the increased number of waiver and visa applications lodged by the affected Zimbabwean nationals. The Minister is considering and approving an average of 2 000 waiver applications every week.

5. The Minister would like to assure the public that the Department of Home Affairs (“DHA”) will continue to enforce the immigration laws without fear or favour. Hence the very successful two-day immigration workshop held on 16 and 17 October 2023 at Birchwood Hotel, in Gauteng, attended by representatives of the National House of Traditional Leaders and Khoi and San Leaders and all provincial houses of traditional leaders, Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (“CONTRALESA”), National Khoi and San Council, Royal Leaders of South Africa (“ROLESA”), South African Local Government Association (“SALGA”), Mayors or Speakers of Metros and Districts, Ministers of Human Settlements, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Small Business Development, Deputy Ministers of Home Affairs and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Leaders and the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition. A full statement on the workshop will be released in due course.

In an exclusive interview, Anitta Hipper, Spokesperson for the European Commission (home affairs) elaborates upon the reasons for delays, what the European Commission is doing to resolve the issue and the much-awaited digitisation of the Schengen visa

Since the resumption of international travel post Covid-19, long wait to get a visa appointment & delay in processing of Schengen visas has irked travellers worldwide 

Since the resumption of international travel post Covid-19, long wait to get a visa appointment & delay in processing of Schengen visas has irked travellers worldwide. In an exclusive interview, Anitta Hipper, Spokesperson for the European Commission (home affairs) elaborates upon the reasons for delays, what the European Commission is doing to resolve the issue and the much-awaited digitisation of the Schengen visa which will be issued in digital format, as a 2D barcode, cryptographically signed.

Worldwide, travellers are unhappy with the delay in Schengen visa processing times that is impacting their personal and professional travel plans. What’s the big reason for this delay?  In India, people are complaining that scheduling an appointment ‘takes forever’. How can this be expedited? 

This is not a specific situation to India. The European Commission has received numerous reports from visa applicants who, in various geographical locations, have difficulties obtaining an appointment for the submission of a visa application at Member States` consular offices.

Travel restrictions related to COVID-19 have forced some Member States to reduce the number of staff engaged in consular offices or have had to cancel their contractual arrangements with external service providers. In a context of resumption of international travel and increase in visa applications, the pressure in some places creates difficulties for service providers and consulates in processing an increasing number of visa applications in a timely manner.

In addition, intermediaries use sophisticated IT tools to book appointments on behalf of visa applicants as soon as they are released, making extremely difficult for applicants not using their services to book an appointment on their own.

The Commission regularly calls on the Member States` visa authorities to improve their operational capacities and address this issue by releasing more appointments. As for the decisions on visa application, the decisions in this matter are the exclusive competence of Member States.

According to a few news reports, in 2022, India was the second country with the highest rejection rates; nearly 18% of total Schengen visa applications submitted by Indians were rejected. What is the big reason? Financial stability? Background check?  

This is not factually correct. The refusal rate for visas applied in Member States consulates corresponds to the refusal rate global average. There are almost 60 visa-required third countries who have worse refusal rate (almost up to 50% for few of them).

The main reason for rejection is the documentation justifying the purpose and conditions of the intended stay. In particular, the use of forged or fake documents has been identified by Member States as an issue (this is not specific to India).

Are there accelerated visa processing options?

There is no accelerated/emergency procedure which can be invoked for tourism-related travels. Member States are making efforts to increase their processing capacity to deal with the increase in visa applications.

In June this year, the Parliament and the Council of the European Union agreed on rules to digitalise the procedure for Schengen visas. What`s the current status of the proposal?  When will digitisation be fully adopted? 

Once the European Parliament and the Council adopt the initiative, work will start on the implementation of the regulation. After the start of operation of the common application platform and the introduction of the digital visa (not before 2028), Member States will have then seven years to switch to the common online visa platform.

Will the digitised visa be a 2D barcode cryptographically signed?  Will it be a single-window platform for all Member states? 

The Regulation proposed by the Commission aims to modernise the visa procedure by introducing two key changes: digitalisation of the visa sticker and digitalization of the visa application.

This will be achieved through the establishment of an European Union (EU) online Visa application platform, where applicants can apply online for a Schengen visa, regardless of the country they wish to visit and make the visa fee payment. The platform will offer a secure account for applicants to apply and receive the decision on their application. It will also provide up-to-date information on visa requirements, procedures, and a chatbot for user queries.

Additionally, under the proposed rules, visas will be issued in digital format, as a 2D barcode, cryptographically signed. This will reduce security risks related to counterfeit and stolen visa.

South Africa is set to briefly overtake Nigeria and Egypt as the continent’s largest economy next year, International Monetary Fund forecasts show.

The IMF’s World Economic Outlook envisions South Africa’s gross domestic product reaching $401 billion based on current prices in 2024, compared with Nigeria’s $395 billion and Egypt’s $358 billion. South Africa is expected to only hold the top spot for a year before it once again lags Nigeria, and then fall to third place behind Egypt in 2026, according to the report, which was released last week.   

While IMF data shows Nigeria’s economy has eclipsed South Africa’s since 2018, its fortunes have dimmed along with a decline in production of oil and it has been grappling with runaway inflation and a plunge in the value of the naira.

Bola Tinubu has announced significant policy changes aimed at getting the state’s finances back on track since he became president of the West African nation at the end of May, including revamping the foreign-exchange system, scrapping costly gasoline subsidies and taking steps to address dollar shortages and boost tax revenue. 

Those measures are causing initial pain in Africa’s most populous nation, but are expected to increasingly pay dividends going forward. The IMF sees GDP expanding 3.1% next year, compared with 2.9% in 2023. 

The reforms should lead to “stronger and more inclusive growth,” Daniel Leigh, division chief in the IMF’s research department, told reporters at the fund’s annual meetings in Marrakech, Morocco, last week.

`We believe the IMF’s projections reflects where it believes meaningful reforms will take place. South Africa’s transient emergence as Africa’s largest economy in 2024 is mainly due to the shrinking of Nigeria and Egypt’s GDP in dollar terms, following sharp currency devaluations,` says Yvonne Mhango, Bloomberg`s Africa economist. `However, the long-term trajectory shows Nigeria and Egypt regaining their top spots, with the former taking a strong lead. For Nigeria to realise the GDP expansion projected by the IMF, we think oil output must be restored to its potential; insecurity needs tackled; and the bottlenecks in the power sector addressed.`

Egypt has devalued its currency three times since early 2022 as it confronts a foreign-exchange crunch, with the pound losing almost half its value against the dollar. 

The government secured a $3 billion IMF package last year that requires a more flexible exchange rate, a move it’s only likely to undertake after December elections in which President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi is seeking to extend his rule until 2030. 

The delay has stalled IMF reviews that were initially scheduled for March and September. Successful appraisals could unlock about $700 million in postponed loan tranches, give Egypt access to a $1.3 billion resilience fund and potentially spur major Gulf investments.

The government is meanwhile in talks with the IMF on boosting its rescue package to more than $5 billion, according to people familiar with the discussions, confident it can overcome the hurdles preventing it from accessing support, including addressing concerns over its currency policy. The implementation of a reform agenda could underpin an economic growth rate of 5% or more from 2026, according to the IMF.

Unlike Nigeria’s naira and Egypt’s pound, the rand is free floating, and has lost about 10% of its value against the dollar this year. 

Currency weakness has been stoked by concerns that the National Treasury will miss its budget deficit and debt-to-GDP targets for the fiscal year through March due to increased demands on the state for support and revenue shortfalls, as a fraying transport network and record power cuts curtail economic growth.

The IMF sees South Africa’s economy expanding 0.9% this year and 1.8% in 2024, with the potential to expand 2.5% to 3% faster should it improve the power situation, tackle logistic bottlenecks and institute other reforms.