This African Nation Will Discontinue Visa Requirements, Slash Plane Ticket Prices In Half

Reported by Nigel Boys

Even though Senegal had only one case of Ebola last year after the virus broke out in the neighboring countries of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, the nation’s foreign visitor trade was affected, which had previously brought French visitors swarming to its coastline.

In an attempt to regain tourist attraction in the West African country, President Macky Sall announced in an address to the nation that Senegal would be scrapping visa requirements for foreign visitors and the move would take effect on May 1. He added that he would also be slashing taxes on airfares to roughly one half of the current cost, but did not declare when these cuts would come into effect.

Apart from the decline in tourism from the Ebola scare in neighboring countries, the high cost and administrative hassle of visas and taxes on air tickets has all but crippled the tourism sector of Senegal.

According to The Africa Report, Senegal is also looking for a strategic partner to re-launch its indebted state carrier, Senegal Airlines. They hope to have achieved this by the time its new international airport opens next year.

Speaking at Senegal’s 55th anniversary celebrations, President Sall also reiterated his commitment to his program of reform and investment with the “Plan Senegal Emergent” (PSE).

The 53-year-old, who has been the president of the country since April 2012 and was Prime Minister of Senegal under President Abdoulave Wade, also called on his compatriots last week “not to fall into the trap of complacency” over executing PSE. He added, however, that its first year of implementation has witnessed “positive results.”

At a meeting between technical and financial partners (TFP)—the private sector and the civil society in Diamniadio, around 40 km from Dakar—Sall said, “We have a lot of progress to achieve and PSE is taking up the challenge particularly in terms of attitudinal change.”

He claimed that the growth of gross domestic product, the macroeconomic level, remains positive. He added that the expected projection for 2015 is 5.4%, following an increase from 2011 of 1.7% to 4.5% in 2014. The budget revenues have also increased from CFA 1.467 billion in 2012 to CFA 1,676,000,000 in 2014, he claimed.

Although Sall is in favor of reverting to the previous term limits and lengths of office, fellow African leaders have been criticized for attempting to cling on to their power. Benin, Rwanda, Burundi, and Congo-Brazzaville are all said to be considering constitutional changes allowing their leaders a third term in office.

Sall, however, previously announced that he wanted to cut his mandate by two years, from seven to five, and declared that he would ensure that no leader could hold more than two terms in office.

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