The Angolan Embassy has promised to continue to harness the various economic potentials in Nigeria as it opened a visa collection centre in Port Harcourt.
The embassy said the measure was part of efforts to strengthen business ties with Nigeria.
Jose Zan, Angolan ambassador to Nigeria, gave the assurance while inaugurating the centre in Port Harcourt on Tuesday.
According to him, there are lots of hurdles experienced by both countries (Nigeria and Angola) in terms of accessing the Angola visa from Port Harcourt, hence, the need for the centre.
The envoy noted that the centre was expected to satisfy the travel needs of the Angolan community resident in South-south and South-east Nigeria.
“I have been on duty in Nigeria for less than a year during which I’m ensuring a better business approach between Nigeria and Angola.
“One of my targets is to enhance travel experience for the Angolan and Nigerian communities and one of the ways to achieve this is to ensure an easy facilitation in terms of visa procurement.
“These communities have suffered lots of hurdles shuttling both countries from Port Harcourt; sometimes, when they have to fly to Abuja to procure their visas, they end up missing business appointments and spending extra cost on hotels.
“That’s why we are here in Port Harcourt, to enhance speedy procurement of Angolan visas which is easy and also possible within 24 hours.
Onyemaechi Ejindu, CEO, Akwahelms Ltd, also a partner in the centre, said it was poised to ensure professional strategies that would enhance the travel experience to Angola.
He said that the advantage of having the collection centre in Port Harcourt was to help address the difficulties of travelling to Lagos or Abuja to facilitate visa allocations.
“Now that the Angolan Embassy has brought a visa centre closer to the south and eastern states, we also look forward to collaborating with other airlines that will be linked to the Angolan national airline in terms of connectivity.
“As we speak, it’s surprising the number of Nigerian/Angolan community that shuttle between Angola and Port Harcourt for various types of businesses.
“This is why we made efforts to establish this centre in order to reach out to those who are into trading and other businesses,” he said.
Mr Ejindu said that Angola, like Nigeria, has lots of attractions and that both countries were beginning to appreciate their similarities and also exploiting economic relationships.
According to him, just like Nigeria, Angola is richly endowed with crude oil and other natural deposits like gold, diamond and many others.
