Less than 24 hours after Ethiopia changed its visa policy for Nigerian travelers and a few others, the East African country has once again come out with financial sanctions and deportation to the citizens of the country.
Ethiopian in a document marked ‘Circular No 8 For 2022’ and sent to its travel partners in Nigeria, threatened to impose a fine of $1,000 (about N700,000 in the black market) and deportation to any Nigerian traveler who entered its country without the required Yellow Fever Vaccination Certificate.
The country also said that the new policy also applies to Nigerians and other 42 countries’ citizens departing its country.
The country said the new policy takes effect immediately.
Checks by Nairametrics indicate that the new policy affected 29 African countries with 25 of them from West and Central Africa alone, while the 13 others are from South America.
No country from Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and North America is affected by the policy.
Countries affected on the continent are Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central Africa Republic, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger.
Others are Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo, South Sudan, Uganda, Egypt, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Columbia, Ecuador, French Guyana, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad, and Tobago and Venezuela.
However, the country in the reverse policy, emailed today to its travel partners in the country, said that the new policy is temporary and may be reversed in the future.
“Please, be informed that effective immediately the Ethiopian Government has temporarily suspended walk-in visas on arrival for citizens of over 42 nations. Passengers should book their visas online and get a confirmation before the trip via the website.
“They can also get the visa at the Ethiopian embassy in Abuja before traveling.”