East African leaders officially launch single tourist visa
Tourists visiting Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda will find it much easier and cheaper to travel across the three countries with the official launch of the single tourist visa on Thursday, a milestone in the East African countries’ quest to deepen their integration.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, and his Rwandan and Kenyan counterparts Paul Kagame and Uhuru Kenyatta, who arrived here for the 4th Northern Corridor Integration Projects Summit to speed up regional integration, handed dummy visas to three tourists, marking the official introduction of the single tourist visa.
The multiple-entry visa, which will be valid for 90 days, will cost 100 U.S. dollars. Tourists can apply at any immigration offices of Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda or online. Burundi and Tanzania are yet to come on board.
The visa is expected to reduce the costs of touring across the three countries in a bid to boost the number of tourists.
At the one-day summit, leaders from Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda also discussed key projects such as railway construction, oil refinery development and energy generation.
The last summit was held last October in the Rwandan capital Kigali, where the Single Customs Territory was launched and entered into force on Jan. 1, 2014.
The East African community is expanding.Our sub region is an interesting place for investors.They come from the four corners of the planet to take advantage of our resources(people,minerals…)We are a large market and our potantial is getting more and more known to the rest of the world.Now why should we ,East Africans remain confined inside our respective countries while we can unite and get stronger?Though we still have a long way to go in terms of correct and balanced taxe policy,security,human rights…I believe that our leaders have gone one more step on the road of development.This is good news for sure.EAC OYEEEEE