GITEGA, October 2nd (ABP) – Burundi Senate President Emmanuel Sinzohagera congratulated the government of Burundi for initiating the project of exemption of travel visas in Benin for holders of diplomatic, official, service and ordinary passports.
He expressed these sentiments during a plenary assembly of senators on Tuesday, October 1, 2024, in the hemicycle of Gitega (center of the country), during the analysis of the bill on the ratification by the Republic of Burundi, of an agreement between the government of Burundi and that of Benin, relating to the exemption of visas for the category of persons mentioned above.
For the president of the senate, the visa should be exempted in all African countries for Africans wishing to travel in Africa. The plenary session was attended by the Minister of East African Community Affairs, Youth, Sports and Culture, Gervais Abayeho. He had represented the government to enlighten senators on the content of the said bill.
In his explanatory memorandum, Abayeho indicated that Burundi is keen to strengthen bilateral relations and cooperation with countries with which it has had good long-standing relations.
In the case of Benin, he said, there is a step forward, because even holders of ordinary passports will be included. He added that this agreement will allow nationals of both countries to move easily in accordance with the principle of equality and reciprocity.
The agreement in question will be based on five pillars, namely attracting investors, transferring technology, promoting trade and tourism, progressive industrialization and infrastructure development.
In response to the senators’ question on the opportunities that Benin offers to Burundi, Minister Abayeho cited, among others, the entrepreneurial sector and that of cutting-edge information technologies as well as the sector of agro-food processing, that of industrial fishing as well as that of modern rabbit farming. For all these reasons, the senators unanimously passed the aforementioned bill.
