Ghana and Mauritius waive visa requirements

Ghana and Mauritius have agreed to waive visa requirements for holders of each other’s national passports.

The agreement follows the signing of an agreement on mutual visa waiver exemption in Port Louis on Monday as part of the itinerary of President John Mahama’s  three--day state visit to that country. 

The accord allows all Ghanaians, including holders of ordinary Ghanaian passports to enter into Mauritius without any visa restrictions, with the same courtesies extended to Mauritius nationals coming to Ghana.

Speaking at a ceremony after bilateral talks with Prime Minister Sir Anerood Jugnauth, President Mahama said his visit to Mauritius “begins a process that will crown our years of collaboration and discussions at the highest level towards strengthening bilateral, trade and political cooperation between our two countries.”

The two leaders discussed a number of issues including collaboration between their countries on international issues and developments including climate change, the Sustainable Development Goals and terrorism.

President Mahama noted that the meetings with the Prime Minister and earlier with the President of Mauritius, allowed the two countries to explore further a number of mutually beneficial opportunities for their people, as well as businesses from Ghana and Mauritius. 

“We should out of these visits and the successful signing of this afternoon’s agreements see investments and partnerships in the agricultural sector, especially in sugarcane and sugar production, textiles, the financial sector and ICT in Ghana.” 

President Mahama welcomed the decision of the Mauritius government to invest US$250 million in an ICT Enclave in Tema, through the Mauritius Board for Investment, in partnership with the Government of Ghana. 

The project will create in excess of 5000 direct jobs for young graduates, provide many more thousands of indirect job opportunities, and serve as an ICT hub in the West African Sub- Region. 

Other agreements signed on the first day of the President’s visit were those between the Mauritius Standards Bureau (MSB) and the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) and a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Field of Higher Education, Science and Technology.