The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced a visa ban on nationalities from 20 African countries seeking to visit Dubai, according to DW Africa.

The ban takes immediate effect.

These countries are Ghana, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Cameroon, Nigeria, Liberia, Burundi, Republic of Guinea, Gambia, Togo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, Benin, Ivory Coast, Congo, Rwanda, Burkina Faso, Guinea Bissau, Comoros and Uganda.

According to the Germany-based news outlet, one of the reasons given for the ban is that many who arrive on visit visas end up overstaying in the country illegally while working, without legalizing their stay.

This comes merely a month after Nigeria’s foreign ministry announced that Nigerians under the age of 40 will no longer be issued tourist visas to the United Arab Emirates as the Emirati “introduced a new visa regime and has stopped issuing tourist visas to persons under the age of 40 years, except for those applying for family visas.” This is not the first time Ghana and other African countries have been barred from travelling to Dubai.

Emirates Airline announced on December 28, 2021, that eight African countries will not be accepted to travel to or through Dubai until further notice due to the spread of the Omicron Covid-19 variant. The countries included: Ghana, Angola, Guinea, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Cote d’Ivoire and Ethiopia.