AFRICAN RESIDENT NEWS UPDATE.COM
Nigeria has launched an online system aimed at enabling business executives to apply for a visa online and collect it on arrival 48 hours later, its immigration service said on Thursday.
The move to ease visa rules in the West African country follows complaints from foreign executives that obstructive embassy officials made it difficult to enter the country.
Under the new system, travelers must register with the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and provide details including travel document information, after which a letter of approval may be issued and the visa collected on arrival.
Mohammed Babandede, comptroller general of the NIS, said the facility was in line with the government’s “policy on creation of a conducive environment to attract foreign high net worth investors and professionals into the economy”.
Overseas investors have mainly stayed away from Africa’s largest economy after being put off by a gap of around 30 percent between the official rate of the naira currency, controlled by the central bank, and rates on the parallel market.
Nigeria, an OPEC member, is in recession for the first time in 25 years largely due to low oil prices.
Frenchman kidnapped near Chad border with Sudan's DarfurA Frenchman was kidnapped in Chad in a remote region near the border with Sudan’s Darfur region early on Thursday, France’s foreign ministry said.
The man was kidnapped south of Abeche, a mining area about 800 km (500 miles) east of the capital N’Djamena, a French military source told Reuters.
There were no immediate reports of any group claiming responsibility or making demands in the area crossed by nomadic groups and rebels fighting the Sudanese government over the border in Darfur.
A source close to the matter said officials were leaning toward a criminal act rather than linking it to militancy.
Europe 1 radio said the man in his sixties had been working for a mining company and was seized carrying the staff’s wages, without giving its sources.
“I confirm that a French citizen was kidnapped in Chad and we are doing everything to find him,” President Francois Hollande told reporters.
“When it comes to hostages it’s best to say the least possible in the interests of the person and the discussions that will take place.”
Madeleine Alingue, spokeswoman for the Chadian government, said search operations were underway.
The last French national kidnapped in Chad was an aid worker taken in the eastern border area in 2009 and released nearly three months later inside Darfur.
The foreign ministry said it was working with local authorities to secure the man’s freedom.
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