By Emmanuel Nduka
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is set to lift travel restrictions placed on travellers who had recently visited Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia and eight other African countries.
The announcement was made by the National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Emergency Management Authority (NCEMA), stating that it was lifting the ban initially imposed in light of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
“From January 29, entry into the UAE for arrivals from Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Nigeria, the Republic of the Congo, the Republic of South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe is allowed again,” NCEMA said on Twitter.
The UAE had slammed restrictions on travellers who had visited certain African countries in the previous 14 days.
Meanwhile, the changes will come into effect at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Under the new regulations, travellers will be required to obtain a negative COVID-19 PCR test 48 hours prior to departure and a negative rapid-PCR test at the departure airport, while those travelling from Uganda, Ghana and Rwanda will also have to take the three tests, and passengers will also be tested on arrival.
Other countries to be affected by the lifting include Tanzania, Republic of Congo, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe.
