Africa: Univisa Still a Concept
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New Era (Windhoek)
23 July 2008
Posted to the web 23 July 2008
Irene !hoaës
Windhoek
It is not yet clear how the univisa, or the SADC common visa, will look like or how it will operate and who will be eligible to get the document that is earmarked for use during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
SADC still has to iron out the administrative framework around visas before anything concrete can be said.
Offering travellers to the World Cup 2010 an opportunity to experience Africa beyond the walls of the soccer stadia may be one of the reasons the SADC countries have committed themselves to working towards a univisa for the region by 2010.
It was also felt that a campaign that encouraged a marriage between the soccer event and transfrontier areas and national parks would help tourism in the region.
"We are not even yet sure when implementation will take place, because coordination issues still have to be discussed," the Chief Executive Officer of the Namibia Tourism Board, Digu Naobeb said.
Naobeb added that it is not clear yet whether the visa will be a temporary one, which can be revoked after the sporting events or whether it will be permanent.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Samuel Gôagoseb, confirmed that the concept of a common visa was agreed upon but that there are still a lot of administrative and coordination issues to be solved.
Gôagoseb said technical working groups of the SADC countries are currently deliberating on the issue and that implementation is planned for next year.
He also added that the common visa concept is not only earmarked for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa but also the 27th Edition of the 2010 CAF African Cup of Nations in Angola that year.
Gôagoseb gave possible countries that could benefit from the common visa as Germany and China, although it has not commonly been agreed on yet.
The two countries, the permanent secretary said, could benefit from Namibia's point of view because of the lucrative tourism market that Namibia has with Germany and business relations with China.
Another meeting to further discuss the issue is set for the Democratic Republic of Congo in October.
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And long may it remain so,the potential problems could fill a full set of encyclopedia.