Maputo — The Mozambican government has approved a waiver on entry visas, for tourism and business purposes, for citizens of countries that present a low risk of illegal immigration.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, after the weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers (Cabinet), the official government spokesperson, Deputy Justice Minister Filimao Suaze, said the measure is intended to stimulate the tourism and business environment.

He added that it forms part of the implementation of the package of Economic Acceleration Measures (PAE), launched by President Filipe Nyusi in August 2022.

The PAE states that the government will grant "investment visas' for longer periods for foreign citizens with investments in Mozambique, and will transform short term tourism visas into mixed tourism and business visas.

The visa waiver, Suaze added, covers "particular countries with a low risk of illegal immigration'.

The list Suaze announced covers 28 countries, including the United States, China, Japan, Russia and ten member states of the European Union. These countries are in addition to those which already have bilateral visa arrangements with Mozambique, such as members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

Any citizen of these countries wishing to take advantage of the visa waiver must register on a pre-selection electronic platform at least 48 hours before travelling and pay a 10 US dollar processing fee.

Suaze said that electronic visas will be introduced for those countries not covered by the visa waiver.

The full list of countries given by Suaze is as follows: Belgium Canada China Denmark Finland France Germany Ghana Holland Indonesia Israel Italy Ivory Coast Japan Norway Portugal Russia Saudi Arabia Senegal Singapore South Korea Spain Sweden Switzerland Ukraine United Arab Emirates UK USA