Visa for who? Kenya-Mozambique visa on arrival scrapped

 

The meeting this afternoon between President Uhuru Kenyattta and the President of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi seems to have borne fruit after the two countries inked a deal to scrap visa on arrival for diplomats and local nationals. The two countries will also in the next few months draft a double tax agreement.

 

https://twitter.com/UKenyatta/status/1065262325027037186

President Kenyatta this evening announced the deal between the two countries on his Twitter account.

“I am delighted that today Kenya and Mozambique have finally agreed and signed an appropriate Visa waiver framework. This is the right step towards facilitating people to people contact, as well as enhancing trade between our two nations #KenyaMozambiqueRelations | @FNyusi,” read the tweet.

President Kenyatta said that the move was aimed at bolstering trade between Kenya and Mozambique as well as building capacity in developing Kenya’s Blue Economy that will unlock the great potential in our maritime resources. He added that these efforts will create wealth and more jobs for both nations.

 

 

Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Monica Juma who received President Filipe Nyusi at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) today said that the deal which brokered nine months ago will be signed this week.

According to CS Monica Juma, during President Uhuru Kenyatta’s historic visit to Maputo in March this year, the two countries embarked on the establishment of appropriate frameworks such as Bilateral Trade Agreement and Avoidance of Double taxation agreement to guide the conduct of business and investments in Kenya and Mozambique.

“We agreed to allow free movement of people under a Visa agreement to facilitate trade and tourism and private sector investment,” CS Juma said.

 

 

This deal comes as good news especially since just this month, one of Kenya’s representative at the Fiba Africa club championships held at the Maputo airport over a visa hitch.

Although the matter was addressed after talks between Mozambique Basketball Federation and immigration, Kenya Ports Authority KPA women basketball team, were momentarily detained at Maputo International Airport for close to three hours.

 

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CS Juma noted that the bilateral deal comes just days ahead of the Sustainable Blue Economy Conference to be held in Nairobi next week. She added that the two countries ought to back each other up when drafting multilateral deals.

“Kenya and Mozambique share a vast Indian Ocean coastline that can be exploited for its vast marine resources that could transform our economies in sustainable manner,” CS Juma said.

Cooperation between the two countries has so far registered progress in the Air Transport Sector where the Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) was established in 2012 leading to direct flights between Kenya and Mozambique.

Last year, Kenya took the extraordinary step of recognizing the Makonde, an ethnic group in South-East Tanzania and northern Mozambique as the 43rd tribe of Kenya.

Do you think Kenya’s relationship with Mozambique will help Kenya develop her Blue Economy?

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