Ethiopia’s cabinet has approved a bilateral agreement with Nigeria that waives visa requirements for diplomatic and service passport holders to ease travels between officials of the two countries.
The move aims to eliminate visa barriers for high-ranking government officials and diplomats with the aim to facilitate their official duties and strengthen cooperation between the two nations, Ethiopia’s council of ministers disclosed over the weekend in a statement.
The council referred its decision to the House of People’s Representatives for further deliberation and final endorsement.
Once enacted, it will allow visa-free travel for government officials and diplomats between Africa’s two most populous nations.
The original memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed in February 2020 by Nigeria’s then-foreign minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, and his Ethiopian counterpart, Gedu Andargachew, in the presence of both heads of state.
It was part of a broader effort by the two governments to institutionalize cooperation across a range of areas, including trade, regional security and multilateral coordination.
Analysts say the visa waiver, though largely symbolic, could help lay the groundwork for more structured cooperation, particularly in the context of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), to which both countries are parties.
Ethiopia has signed similar diplomatic mobility agreements with countries such as China, South Korea, India, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates. The latest accord with Nigeria reflects Addis Ababa’s ongoing efforts to position itself as a regional diplomatic hub and to improve the functioning of its foreign service at a time of heightened geopolitical competition across the continent.
MG/gik/APA