The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration has announced that starting on December 1, 2023, all foreign nationals traveling to Ghana will no longer need visas.
This decision was made in response to the ‘December in Ghana’ initiative, which aims to attract tourists during the festive season. As part of this visa-free regime, foreign nationals arriving in Ghana this December can obtain their visa upon arrival within an estimated time of 60 minutes.
“Anybody who wants to come to Ghana can take advantage,” Deputy Minister, Ampratwum Sarpong disclosed, explaining that “December of late has become a month of activity, big activity in the country and it’s a month that a lot of our compatriots living outside the country take advantage of to come in and enjoy the Christmas festivities.”
The deputy minister highlighted that this decision was prompted by the government’s initiative to encourage the diaspora to come back to their home country, in addition to the endeavors of the entertainment sector.
The visa exemption policy will remain in effect until the conclusion of December.
“Looking at the trend and the number of people over the years that have been coming into the country, there have been complaints of frustrations at the various missions abroad in getting visas on time to be able to get down here and have a good time.
“And being a responsive government, we’ve looked at it and we think one of the best things that we can do is to lessen the frustrations of their travel to their home base and make it possible for them to get down here and get their visas.
“Because if you arrive today, give and take, in about an hour, you should be able to go through the process of getting your visa on arrival. So this is just for December,” Ampratwum Sarpong noted.
In recent times, some East African countries, including Kenya, have announced a grand visa waiver programme for all Africans.
Commenting on whether Ghana will do the same, deputy minister Sarpong noted that “there’s a committee looking at that,” adding that “(Ghana) has been trying to get visa-free waivers from a whole lot of other countries.”
Kenneth Awotwe Darko, a journalist with Multimedia, and owner of Joy FM and other subsidiary stations shared this message on his Twitter platform saying:
🇬🇭🚨Breaking News: Ghana has announced a ✈️Visa-Free regime for all foreign nationals traveling into Ghana, effective December 1, 2023. 📍Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Ampratwum Sarpong explained that the policy forms part of the ‘Ghana in December’ festivities. 🥳 This arrangement is expected to be curtailed at the end of December. The deputy minister made this revelation to my colleague Blessed Sogah.
