Several African countries set to waive visa requirement for Iranians

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy Mehdi Safari has announced that several Central Asian and African countries have waived visa requirement for Iranians.

Speaking during a TV interview, he noted that several wealthy African countries with high purchasing power will soon waive visa for Iranians for two to three weeks.

Safari pointed out that delegations from these countries will visit Iran soon to follow up on the implementation of the visa exemption arrangement.

Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy reiterated that, “If we pursue economic relations, continue with a proper and persistent diplomacy and fulfill our promises, many countries will certainly work with us.”

The senior Iranian diplomat noted this policy has been successful since Tehran is increasingly becoming a center of diplomacy in the region and this will have positive impact on economic and commercial issues.

Last month the head of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) Alireza Peyman-Pak said the country is taking the necessary steps to increase annual trade exchanges with African countries to $5 billion by the Iranian calendar year 1404 (begins in March 2025).

Peyman-Pak said the trade with the mentioned countries is expected to reach $2.5 billion by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2023).

Referring to the preparation of the country's trade development road-map at the beginning of the work of the 13th administration, the official said: "In this road-map, major factors including exports and the share of different sectors is specified, and in the case of Africa, the priorities and targets for trade with different countries and the requirements for reaching these targets are determined."

Peyman-Pak put the share of African countries in Iran's export basket at $1.2 billion, saying: "Africa's annual imports amount to about $580 billion and our share of this figure is still small despite all the efforts. We have managed to export $1.2 billion to this market."