Malawi has lifted visa requirements for visitors from 79 countries in a bid to boost tourism, President Lazarus Chakwera told Parliament on Friday.
Tourism is the third-largest source of foreign currency in the southern African nation, after tobacco and tea - but the sector is underperforming, Chakwera said.
"Chief among the factors contributing to this is our country's accessibility, which is why we have implemented the visa waiver program," he said.
"I expect our Ministry of Foreign Affairs to use this waiver to immediately begin negotiating with those countries and territories for more friendly visa terms for Malawians traveling there as a way of increasing our access to international markets for wealth creation," he added.
The United States, Britain, France, China, Russia, and members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), a regional bloc, are among the countries benefiting from the exemption.
Tourism Minister Vera Kamtukule told AFP that onerous visa requirements had been throttling the country's potential - and caused complaints.
"Our strategy is to attract investments in agriculture, tourism, and mining," Kamtukule said.
"By eliminating visa requirements for our key source markets globally, we are signalling that Malawi is open for business."
Home to abundant wildlife, including elephants, hippos and crocodiles, the landlocked nation is partially covered by the waters of Lake Malawi, Africa's third-largest freshwater lake.
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