Norway intends to increase the number of visas it issues to Nigerians in bid to boost bilateral trade

NORWAY intends to increase the number of visas it issues to Nigerians as part of an ambitious plan to grow the amount of trade and volume of commercial activities between both countries.

According to Jens-Petter Kjemperud, the Norwegian ambassador to Nigeria, out of the 870 visa applications from Nigerians last year, only 370 were granted and issued. He added that the embassy would soon be discussing the possibility of increasing this number with private issuer VFS Global and the Nigerian-Norwegian Chambers of Commerce (NNCC).

Mr Kjemperud said: “We really want to see more Nigerians engage with Norwegians in the near future but we know that the visas issued to Nigerians have been quite few. The embassy is planning to discuss with VFS Global and the Nigerian-Norwegian Chamber of Commerce (NNCC) to increase the number of visas to Nigerians soon."

He noted that out of the 600 visa applications received by the embassy from Nigerians between January and August this year, only 290 of them were issued visas. According to Mr Kjemperud, Nigerians were always applying to visit Norway for family, business and official as well as for tourism.

Confident that the numbers will increase, the ambassador expressed optimism that the issuance of more visas to Nigerians would promote people-to-people relationships, trade, investment opportunities and other exchanges between both countries. He said that there was currently a growing interest from Norwegian fishery companies about doing businesses in Nigeria, as well as promoting exchanges with their Nigerian counterparts.