The founder of BUA Group, Abdul Samad Rabiu, has shared how he was refused entry into South Africa after his visa had expired.
PrimeTimes Nigeria reports that the businessman said he observed that some travellers from Europe were allowed into the country without visas.
He spoke about the experience during a session at the Africa CEO Forum held in Kigali, Rwanda, where leaders, business owners, and government officials gathered to discuss Africa’s growth and economic future.
The event also had the presence of Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu, who led the country’s delegation to the summit.
Rabiu explained that the incident happened in 2025 when he travelled from Lagos to Cape Town for a mining conference.
He said that on arrival, immigration officials checked his travel documents and discovered that his visa had already expired by a day, which led to delays and questioning at the airport.
According to him, he and his team waited for several hours at the airport while efforts were made to resolve the issue, but he was eventually asked to return to Lagos.
He also described what he saw while waiting, noting that several flights arrived from Europe and passengers from those flights were cleared without needing visas to enter South Africa.
He said this experience raised concerns for him about how Africans are treated within the continent compared to visitors from other regions.
Although he accepted responsibility for not renewing his visa in time, he expressed discomfort with the situation where Africans face stricter movement rules within Africa, while other foreigners appear to move more freely.
He said: “I had a personal experience. Last year, in February, I was travelling to Cape Town for the mining Indaba. And as we landed. I left at night from Lagos to Cape Town. We arrived at 6 in the morning.
“As we arrived, we went to the immigration. I tendered my passport, and the immigration officer looked at it and was like, where is your visa, and I said, “My visa is there”. Unknown to me, my visa had expired the day before.
“Unfortunately, our crew did not check the visa to ensure the visas were valid. We were there for four hours, but at the end of the day, I had to turn back. I was turned back to Lagos.
“But the issue is, while we were waiting to see whether we would be able to get access to the countries without the visas, there were like three international flights from Europe. All three flights were mostly Europeans.
“I was standing there by the immigration desk, and every passenger on those three flights went into Cape Town without any visa.
“I do not have a problem with the fact that I was there without a visa and I was returned. I took full responsibility of that.
“I had an issue with being an African in Africa, being turned away because I do not have a visa and foreigners from other continents were coming in and were allowed to enter without a visa. This must change.”