SADC countries plan to expand special visa

Five Southern African countries have committed to expanding the use of a special common visa to allow easier movement of tourists as the region seeks to boost arrivals. New Zimbabwe reports that officials from Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, which make up the Kavango-Zambezi (Kaza) Transfrontier Conservation Area, pledged in principle to broaden use of the special visa, called a univisa, which allows entry into multiple countries. The univisa is currently used in Zambia and Zimbabwe and covers day trips to Botswana through Kazungula. Regional leaders attending a Kaza heads of state summit in Livingstone, Zambia, said they wanted the special visa extended to other states in the conservation area as well as the southern African economic bloc. ‘We must simply say that this will happen,’ said Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema.