‘Acquisition of Ghanaian visa to be made easier in China’

Chinese citizens, living outside the capital, Beijing, will be able to apply for and obtain a Ghanaian visa very soon without the extra cost and inconvenience of presenting themselves physically at the Ghana Embassy in Beijing.

This is because before the end of this year, the Ghana Embassy will open visa application centres in the various provinces of the world’s most populous nation. 

Going by statistics of Chinese provinces with the greatest number of visa applicants and travellers to Ghana year after year, the first centre is likely to be in the Guangzhou Province.

Disclosing this to the Daily Graphic in Beijing last Saturday, Mr Horace Nii Ayi Ankrah, Ghana’s Deputy Ambassador to China, explained that “given the size of this Asian giant, some of whose provinces are far away from the capital, continuing with the policy of every visa applicant applying in person is not in the best interest of Ghana, which desperately needs the Chinese tourist dollar for much needed development”.

He said consultations between the two countries on the issue had reached an advanced stage. “Any time soon, we expect the nod of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” he added.

Tourism fair

Deputy Ambassador Ankrah was speaking on the sidelines of this year’s Chinese Outbound Travel and Tourism Market (COTTM) in Beijing. 

The Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Mrs Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, led Ghana’s delegation to the fair, comprising private and public sector operators in the tourism industry, producers of made-in-Ghana confectionary and alcoholic beverages, as well as creative arts practitioners.

China is the fastest-growing market in the world, and Chinese tourists are the biggest spenders anywhere.

According to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), that country’s 100 million outbound tourists spend an average of US$102 billion annually. Countries around the globe are falling over themselves to cash in on the boom in Chinese outbound tourist numbers.

The number of Chinese applying to travel to Ghana is also growing. According to the Deputy Ambassador, some 1,500 applications were processed in the first quarter of this year alone. ‘Reasons for visit’ have ranged from investment through trade to tourism.

Visa requirements

Asked if the decentralisation move would not amount to opening Ghana’s borders too wide to the Chinese who have in recent times earned a reputation for abusing visitor privileges such as entering as tourists and ending up in galamsey, the Deputy Ambassador said decentralising the application process did not mean easing the visa requirements.

He ruled out ‘Visa On Arrival’ for Chinese visitors to Ghana, saying that “for a country which does not have proper house numbering system, the ‘Visa On Arrival’ regime, everywhere, lends itself too much to abuse”. 

Checks

At any rate, he advocated a discontinuation of the regime for nationals of all countries visiting Ghana, arguing that “people with questionable character, including paedophiles and ex-convicts, arrive in the country and are granted visas without any background checks and based on addresses which cannot be traced anywhere in Ghana”.

On the COTTM fair, he described Ghana’s participation as “very very successful”, alluding to the interest shown in Ghana, as a country by Chinese tour operators and other players.

“You saw the endless stream of people queuing for Ghanaian dishes, made-in-Ghana chocolates and drinks as well as Kente strips,” the Deputy Ambassador said.