Visa decision causes uproar

“Namibia turns the visa tables on Western tables.”

This is but one of the messages that’s been making international headlines since Namibia’s cabinet late in May gave the green light to the ministry of home affairs, immigration, safety and security “to introduce an entry visa requirement to countries that have not reciprocated the favourable treatment granted to their nationals when visiting Namibia.”

Since then, the international spotlight that’s been mainly reserved for Namibia’s oil and hydrogen ambitions, has moved to the country’s new visa policy.

Starting 1 April 2025, new visa restrictions will be imposed on visitors from 33 countries.

Nationals from the affected countries will be issued visas on arrival, subject to an applicable fee - N$1 600 for citizens of non-African Union countries and N$1 200 for citizens of African Union member states - and an online visa application.

Based on the VisaGuide Passport Index, the Namibian passport is ranked 128th worldwide as of July 2024.

Thus, Namibian citizens have the right to travel without visas to 53 countries around the world. On the other hand, Namibian passport holders must apply for a visa in advance to enter the remaining countries.

Reaction

International reaction has been mixed.

The Indian news website Firstpost reported Cabinet’s decision under the banner: “Tit-for-tat: Why Namibia is halting visa-free travel for Western countries”.

Business Insider Africa broke the news by saying: “Namibia intends to give the West a taste of its own visa-medicine”.

A report by the BBC, with the headline “Namibia turns the visa tables on Western tables”, was widely duplicated by news sources across the world.

Southern & East African Tourism Update carried a report titled “Namibia to remove top source markets from visa-exempt list”. It followed up with an article headlined “Consternation grows around Namibia visa changes”.

Earlier this week, the German public state-owned international broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW), released a video report on its website, asking “Will Namibia's new visa policy do more harm than good?” (Scan the QR code to watch the DW video.)

Tit-for-tat

The African website News Invasion 24 said Namibia’s new visa requirement comes amid high Schengen visa rejection rates for African nations, highlighting the challenges faced by Namibians and other Africans in securing the travel visas.

A Schengen visa is a type of visa that allows its holder to travel freely within the Schengen area, which is a zone comprising 27 European countries that have abolished passport and other types of border controls at their mutual borders.

According to VisaGuide.News, the new visa policy follows the release of statistics which show that the European Union (EU) rejected a third of African applicants for Schengen visas last year - around 670 000 out of 2.5 million applications were rejected.

This is higher than the global average.

‘Profiting’

Rejected visa applications from Africans accounted for nearly 41% of the funds the EU collected from visa fees globally in 2023.

Digital news site Travel And Tour World reported that the United Kingdom (UK) and Schengen countries have been profiting from visa rejections.

In 2023, the EU earned US$139 million from Schengen visa rejections, with US$58 million coming from African countries alone. Similarly, the UK made US$56 million from rejected visa fees last year.

The fees for these visas are non-refundable, adding to the financial burden on applicants, Travel and Tour World said.

Based on the VisaGuide Passport Index, the Namibian passport is ranked 128th worldwide as of July 2024.

Thus, Namibian citizens have the right to travel without visas to 53 countries around the world. On the other hand, Namibian passport holders must apply for a visa in advance to enter the remaining countries.

Recovery

Commenting on the latest occupancy statistics, the CEO of the Hospitality Association of Namibia (HAN), Gitta Paetzold, said the performance of the tourism industry for the first half of this year was encouraging.

“The accommodation numbers for the first half of this year exceed those of last year by nearly 5%, and even top the performance of 2019 by nearly 2%, based on average national occupancy over the 6-month period,” Paetzold said.

These statistics indicate that the bona fide tourism sector, encompassing leisure travellers who utilise tourism amenities and services, spending foreign currency, and to a lesser extent, the business travel sector, have fully recovered since 2019, she said.

This is despite the fact that the latest National Tourist Statistical Report for 2023 indicates that overall border crossings into Namibia in the past year have yet to reach 2019 levels, she added.

Concerns

Commenting on the new visa regulations, Paetzold said it is still premature to comment on the effect it will have on Namibia's tourism sector.

“But there is no use denying the concerns the industry has, mainly due to the inconclusive information on the new visa system, on the full process and whether multi-entry visas will be provided, and whether a special dispensation is being prepared for day-visitors.

“With the added threat of sharp price increases on long-haul flights in Europe, due to added climate levies and taxes, the Namibian tourism industry faces some serious challenges in the months to come,” she said.

In its latest Quarterly Review, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) quotes HAN as stating that the visa decision “flies in the face of significant strides made by the private sector and government to present Namibia as open, easily accessible and welcoming to travellers and investors.

‘Unfortunate message’

“Under former president Hage Geingob, the country initiated several progressive measures to boost visitor numbers, including the introduction of a remote work visa and the expansion of visas-on-arrival at border posts. According to HAN, Namibia’s bounceback to pre-Covid arrival levels could largely be attributed to this open approach,” the IPPR said.

“The new requirement for visitors from almost all our main source markets to obtain visas sends an unfortunate message to those markets suggesting that Namibia is not as welcoming to visitors as we have been indicating,” according to HAN.

According to the IPPR, while government sees this as an issue of equality between states and the principle of reciprocity, “the tourism industry sees it as a matter of business where putting up obstacles such as visas (albeit visas on arrival for N$1 600) has the potential to discourage the marginal tourist from visiting Namibia and going instead to other countries that do not require visas”.

“The question boils down to whether Namibia prefers to make this an issue of principle or to continue to pursue a strategy to maximise the potential of its tourism resource. Simply put, Namibia wants more tourists and the business they bring for the local economy, which in turn creates employment," the IPPR said.

Top ten

According to the latest National Tourist Statistical Report, South Africa, Angola, Germany, Zambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, the United States, the UK, France, and the Netherlands emerged as the top ten tourist markets for Namibia last year.

Overseas tourists primarily hailed from Germany, the United States, the UK, France and other European nations, underscoring Namibia’s appeal to international travellers, Simonis Storm (SS) says in its analysis of the latest tourism figures.

“Given that a significant portion of Namibia's top ten international tourists come from countries subject to new visa requirements, it is crucial for the industry and the ministry of tourism to proactively offer high-quality services. This will help sustain and further stimulate growth within the sector,” SS says.

Business lobby group, the Economic Policy Research Association (EPRA), has called on government “to reconsider its decision and engage in constructive dialogue with non-visa reciprocating countries to resolve the underlying issues”.

“By working together to address concerns and fostering a more cooperative approach, Namibia can protect its vital tourism sector and maintain its strong ties with key source markets,” EPRA said.

“EPRA therefore strongly urges government to adopt a pro-business, best practice, evidence-based approach when it comes to policy formulation and implementation, rather than recycling half-truths and disinformation for political expediency, which can only lead to economic ruin,” the group said.

SADC

The SADC Business Council Tourism Alliance also expressed deep concern over Namibia's proposed restrictive visa regime, urging government to reconsider “these restrictive measures and engage in dialogue with stakeholders to find solutions that balance security concerns with the need for economic growth and regional competitiveness”.

"A restrictive visa regime can negatively impact the entire tourism value chain," Natalia Rosa, project lead for the SADC Business Council Tourism Alliance, said.

"It hinders not only leisure travel but also business travel, conferences, events, education and trade, thereby limiting overall economic growth and development," Rosa said in a statement.

Several African countries, including those within the Southern African Development Community (SADC), are moving towards more liberal visa policies.

Namibia risks falling behind its regional peers and losing its competitive edge as a tourist destination if it adopts a more restrictive approach, the SADC Business Council Tourism Alliance said.

“One of the first countries to introduce a remote working visa, recognising the demand post-Covid, Namibia’s visa regime U-turn is puzzling, particularly as SADC prepares to pilot its Univisa.

“Instead of tightening visa restrictions, Namibia could explore alternative solutions such as implementing more efficient visa processing systems (e.g., e-visas), targeted visa waivers for specific groups, or enhanced security measures at borders,” the statement read.