Three East African countries launch single tourist visa

Tourists visiting Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda will find it much easier and cheaper to travel across the three countries with the official launch of the single tourist visa, a milestone in the East African countries' quest to deepen their integration.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, and his Rwandan and Kenyan counterparts Paul Kagame and Uhuru Kenyatta, respectively, who arrived here Thursday for the 4th Northern Corridor Integration Projects Summit to speed up regional integration, handed dummy visas to three tourists, marking the official introduction of the single tourist visa.

The multiple-entry visa, which will be valid for 90 days, will cost $100. Tourists can apply at any immigration office in Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda or online, Xinhua reported. Burundi and Tanzania are yet to come on board.

The visa is expected to reduce the costs of touring across the three countries in a bid to boost the number of tourists.

At the one-day summit, leaders from Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda also discussed key projects such as railway construction, oil refinery development and energy generation.

The last summit was held last October in Rwanda's capital Kigali, where the Single Customs Territory was launched and entered into force on Jan 1, 2014.