Namibia gears up to compete against Mauritius’ Premium visa

Namibia has joined the race of issuing digital nomad visas and could soon emerge as a serious competitor for Mauritius.

Launching the offer, the Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board said the local tourism industry has recovered, posting a national occupancy rate of 61.3% during August 2022, compared to 51% in the prior month and 20.7% in August 2021.

Namibia is one of five southern African countries that improved visa openness measures the most during the 2016 to 2021 period, according to the 2021 Africa Visa Openness Report. It has been ranked 19th in terms of visa openness (compared to 38 in 2016), where first is “most open”.

Some 40 countries globally are already offering digital nomad visas, and in Africa Mauritius, Seychelles and Cape Verde offer the special visa.

French, South African and British nationals are the main holders of Mauritius’ Premium Visas.

Since the introduction of the program on November 16, 2020, the Mauritian authorities have received more than 3,600 applications for the Premium Visa card.

To date, more than 2,430 applications from 45 countries have been approved. This was revealed by Finance Minister Renganaden Padayachy during a “Networking event” that brought together some 300 Premium Visa holders at the Intercontinental Hotel in Balaclava on Thursday, September 29.

Source: The Namibian, l’Express