Travel News

Jose Silva, Prime Minister of Cape Verde, the only Island-country in West Africa, has pledged better cooperation and increase in trade volumes between Nigeria and his country in the coming years.

Silva made the pledge in Abuja on Saturday at the official opening of the first ever Cape Verdean Embassy in Nigeria, stressing that tourism and transportation would top the areas of cooperation.

Sadpeaking to newsmen after the opening, the PM, who spoke through an interpreter, said that the setting up of the embassy was a great step toward better cooperation and regional integration.

The Prime Minister, who jocularly said that Nigeria and Cape Verde could talk about football, stressed that both countries stood to gain from each other with the cooperation that was being established.

“The opening of this embassy means to strengthen the relationship between Cape Verde and Nigeria both politically and culturally.

“Also, we will strengthen relationship with Cape Verde as well as its integration within the ECOWAS region.

“We are going to lure more private investments to Cape Verde, we want to bring more tourists from Nigeria. We already have many travelers from Nigeria to Cape Verde.

“We already have some investments there from other African countries like the Floating Hub which is an investment by a Malian.

“We believe that politically and culturally we have a lot to offer, even as a tourist destination,” he said.

He noted that the current trade volume between both countries was low, but expressed optimism that going forward, the volume will be on the increase.

“The trade volume between Nigeria and Cape Verde is pretty much weak for now, but, when it comes to trade, it is important to increase or improve the maritime and airline connections to increase the figures.

“Also, when it comes to free trade zones, it would play a an important role if you invest on the connection between the region and Cape Verde in order to raise the figure,” he added.

Earlier in his remark at the event, Silva said that his country, being the only Island-country in West Africa, sought to be well known within the sub-region.

“We seek greater integration of markets, trade, connectivity, private investments and tourism. Cape Verde wishes to position itself as an air and digital hub in Africa and integrate regional value chains in trade and industry,” he said.

He harped on the need for regional integration and good implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

The Prime Minister was accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cape Verde, Rui Soares.

NAN reports that the new and first Ambassador of Cape Verde to Nigeria is Belarmino Silva.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it has arrested a Brazil based drug dealer, Okafor Moses in connection with over 2.55 kilograms of cocaine.

This is contained in a statement signed by NDLEA’s Director, Media and Advocacy, Mr Femi Babafemi, in Abuja on Sunday.

He said that drugs were recovered from a toilet at the E-Arrival hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, (MMIA), Ikeja Lagos.

Babafemi said that the drug was discovered in the toilet of the airport on Friday Nov. 12, after it was dumped there by a trafficker who was obviously scared of being caught by narcotic officers positioned at the airport.

“The following day, Saturday Nov. 13, the actual owner of the consignment, Moses arrived the airport from Brazil via an Ethiopian Airline flight and was promptly arrested.

“While being interviewed in custody, he confirmed he is the owner of the seized illicit drug, ” he said.

“In other interdiction operations across the country, over 6,043.857 kilograms of assorted illicit drugs were recovered in five states.”

Babafemi named the states as Adamawa, Ondo, Ekiti, Edo and Ebonyi, adding that more than two hectares of cannabis farms were also destroyed.

He said that a suspected fake security agent, Abdullahi Mohammed, who claimed to be serving in one of the security formations in Mubi, Adamawa state, was arrested over four blocks of Cannabis Sativa weighing 4kg on Bazza- Michika road.

“In the same vein, four other suspects were arrested at different locations in Jimeta, Yola North LGA, with assorted substances such as Cannabis, Diazepam, Exol- 5 and Tramadol tablets.

“In Ondo State, three persons: Alabi Idowu; Oluwatomipe Olorundare and Finity Sunday were arrested on Monday, Nov. 15 and a total of 2,771kgs of Cannabis recovered from them at Oke Ogun camp, Ipele, Owo LGA.

“While 59-year-old Mrs Joy Peter was nabbed with over 39kg cannabis and Tramadol tablets on Wednesday Nov. 17.
“In the same vein, over 2, 832kg of drugs were seized and more than two hectares of cannabis farms destroyed in parts of Ekiti state.

Babafemi said that 2,582kg of cannabis were recovered on Tuesday Nov. 16 from Itapaji forest, Ipao, Ikole LGA, 250kg was seized from Ise forest, Ise-Orun LGA where the cannabis farm was also destroyed on Thursday 18th Nov.

“In Ebonyi, 29-year-old Ivoh Chukwuemeka accompanied by his girlfriend Ogbonna Peace, 18, was intercepted along Enugu-Abakaliki expressway with 20.357kg cannabis on Friday Nov. 19.

“Similarly, 377.5kg cannabis was seized from at least two suspects: Lucky Okhian and Aaron Monday in Owan West LGA as well as Okpokhumi forest in Owan East LGA of Edo state, “he said.

Babafemi quoted the Chairman, NDLEA, retired Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa as commending the officers and men involved in the operations across the commands for sustaining the heat on drug cartels in the country.

“We are proving to the bad guys and merchants of death that we’ll not stay a step ahead of them but two steps in this game, and this we must sustain as we prepare to go into the new year”, he said.

BY  Thyagaraju Adinarayan and Jeran Wittenstein

(Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. venturing into cars might shake up the electric vehicles market in the same way the iPhone revolutionized the mobile communications industry in 2007. So says Morgan Stanley.

The world’s biggest company by market value plans to launch a car with full self-driving capabilities by 2025, Bloomberg News reported. The $10 trillion global mobility market is up for grabs and if Apple enters the space, it could be a “clear negative” for carmakers such as, Ford Motor Co. and Tesla Inc., Morgan Stanley autos analyst Adam Jonas wrote in a note.

Apple shares rose nearly 3% to a fresh all-time high on Thursday, wrestling back its crown as the world’s most-valuable listed company from Microsoft Corp. The stock extended gains on Friday, rising as much as 0.7%. Even if the firm were to take just a 4% share of the global mobility market, Morgan Stanley sees its revenue base doubling as a result.

And there’s more: If cars can drive themselves, people could use time otherwise spent at the wheel on their iPhones.

Apple’s entry to any industry has regularly proved to be a catalyst in scaling up new technologies. Be it smartphones, tablets or smartwatches, the company’s product launches almost always lead to an expansion of the relevant market, and to Apple taking a significant share of it.

“Our experience suggests an even greater bias to the upside on autonomous vehicles adoption within a few years of an Apple Car launch,” Morgan Stanley technology analyst Katy Huberty wrote in a separate note.

Holiday Season Looms

While computer-driven cars are still some way off, the holiday shopping season is about to start. Recent gains in Apple and Amazon.com Inc. shares suggest investors are more optimistic that the companies can overcome supply chain snags in the most important retail quarter of the year.

After lagging behind the broader market for most of the year, Apple is on track for its best week since April with a 5.6% advance. Amazon, which has fared even worse this year, has gained about 6% this week and is on the verge of its first record since July.

Apple and Amazon sowed fears about the holiday season last month after their quarterly revenue projections fell short of estimates as a result of supply chain problems. Investors will be watching closely for clues about sales over the four-day period that starts with Black Friday on Nov. 26.

“If you’re Apple, you don’t want to have the brunt of supply chain issues hit in November and December,” said Scott Kessler, a technology, media & telecommunications analyst at Third Bridge. “A lot of these conditions seem unprecedented, and people have learned that these risks aren’t just out there in a theoretical sense, but that they’re having a practical effect.”

Tech Chart of the Day

Top Tech Stories

• Applied Materials shares slumped after supply chain constraints caused the company to give a downbeat forecast

• Xpeng unveiled its fourth production model, pitted more directly against Tesla’s Model Y and Nio’s ES series

• Workday shares tumbled after the company’s forecast for subscription revenue failed to impress investors

• JD.com Inc. and NetEase Inc. are among companies that will be added to Hong Kong’s stock benchmark

• Instagram is being probed by a group of U.S. state attorneys general over its efforts to engage children and young adults

• Microsoft Corp.’s head of Xbox said he’s “evaluating all aspects of our relationship with Activision Blizzard”

(Updates share price gains throughout.)

(Bloomberg) -- Air traffic for the Thanksgiving holiday is expected to approach pre-pandemic levels and travelers are likely considering their plans with some dread, given fresh memories about thousands of canceled flights.

“The process of getting there is going to be difficult,” said Stephen Beck, founder of management consulting firm Cg42. “We’re going to have to prepare ourselves for the frustration that lies ahead. That’s generally where the average consumer is.”

U.S. airlines say they’re prepared for what looks to be the busiest holiday travel period since the Covid-19 pandemic began.

“We’re ready for it and excited about it,” said Doug Parker, chief executive officer of American Airlines Group Inc. Most planes across the industry will be near full capacity, he said last week at an online forum hosted by the Skift trade publication.

“People are wanting to travel, wanting to go see family over the holiday or travel over the holiday,” Parker said. “It’s going to be a busy travel season.”

Roughly 2 million people a day are projected to fly from Nov. 19 through Nov. 28, according to the Transportation Security Administration, with the potential for some days to exceed that average dramatically. Passenger traffic for the last five days of that period would be just 9% below 2019, before the pandemic hit, according to nonprofit travel group AAA.

United Airlines Holdings Inc. expects to fly more than 4.5 million passengers, about 88% of its 2019 level, from Nov. 19 through Nov. 30. Delta Air Lines Inc. anticipates flying around the same level, carrying at least 5.6 million customers.

American and Southwest Airlines Co. didn’t provide similar projections, but they’re the airlines that consumers might be most concerned about, after the carriers were wracked by cancellations last month. Storms combined with staffing shortages after the carriers resumed service too enthusiastically from pandemic lows, meaning thousands of flights had to be scrubbed.

Both companies have since reduced flying, brought workers back from leave, hired new ones and offered incentives in the hopes employees won’t miss work over the holidays. 

United CEO Scott Kirby said on Bloomberg Television that he’s “confident” the carrier is fully staffed for the holiday crunch and won’t experience operational problems.

Unions also say they’re prepared, assuming meteorological forces cooperate. “It’s really important for people to remember what they knew about airline travel two years ago,” said Sara Nelson, president of the 50,000-member Association of Flight Attendants-CWA. “If there’s weather, we’re going to see delays.” 

Would-be travelers seem optimistic. Tickets sold in the U.S. for domestic and international trips during the 14-day Thanksgiving travel period were 11% below where they were in 2019, according to Nov. 14 data from the Airlines for America lobbying group. 

“People aren’t going to be deterred by the possibilities of storms and delays,” said Christie Hudson, a spokesperson for travel services provider Expedia Group Inc. “The pent-up demand is a huge factor, especially if you didn’t get to see your grandparents or family members last year or had to cancel trips earlier this year. Our mentality now is, ‘Screw it, I’m going.”’

Weather and typical holiday travel snags aside, there are reasons to be particularly wary this year.

The nationwide labor shortage and tight staffing that’s lingered from the depths of the pandemic have left many airport employees and flight crews stressed from working heavy overtime. Airline workers also have had to contend with a spate of belligerent passengers amid the pandemic.

Also, the busy run-up to the holiday coincides with a Nov. 22 deadline for federal workers, which includes airport security screeners, to get Covid-19 vaccinations. Many Transportation Security Administration officers haven’t gotten the shots, according to Hydrick Thomas, president of the American Federation of Government Employees union division that represents frontline TSA workers.

Read more: TSA Screeners Face Vaccine Deadline With Many Lacking Shots

The agency, which has just completed a hiring surge, and the union said they don’t anticipate disruptions. Federal guidelines allow for gradual measures to ensure vaccination compliance so there won’t be mass firings during Thanksgiving week or immediately after, the TSA said.

Even if there are longer security lines and flight delays, some travelers won’t be fazed because they can build in extra travel time, taking advantage of the pandemic’s shift toward more workplace flexibility. 

That allows people to take longer breaks from the office to avoid peak travel days, said Mike Daher, a transportation and hospitality consultant for Deloitte. About 75% of travelers plan to add at least one day to their holiday trip because they can work on the road, according to a recent Deloitte study. 

By Blessing Olaifa, Abuja

Many Nigerians living abroad, who desire to spend the Yuletide in the country with their loved one, are likely going to miss the trip this year.

No thanks to their inability to have their expired international passports renewed at the Nigeria missions in their countries of residence.

More than 1000 Nigerians are believed to be stranded in Atlanta, United States (U.S.) because of expired travel documents for their inability to renew their passports.

The shortage of passport booklets and difficulties in  obtaining the National Identity Numbers (NIN) from the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) also complicate the plights.

Investigations by our reporter who spoke with the parents of some of the stranded citizens showed that the situation is the same in all the Caribbean countries of Jamaica, Bahamas, Cuba, Belize and Trinidad and Tobago.

One of the parent said it was becoming frustrating to hear their children narrating their agonising experiences on the phone and the inability of the Nigerian government to immediately address the problem.

According to the parent, officials of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) conducted biometric capturing of the data of Nigerians resident in Belize, a Commonwealth country, since June this year, but the officials are yet to make the passports available to them.

“As we speak, the officials, who came from Jamaica no longer pick the calls of the Nigerian citizens let alone to reply email messages. He expressed disappointment that his daughter has been stranded in Belize and could not travel to US as planned,” the parent narrated.

Another parent expressed disgust that the situation was becoming hopeless considering the numbers of Nigerians who have been stranded in different countries around the world and the pressures being mounted on the concerned authorities to address the problems.

She regretted that most affected by the scarcity of passports are students, workers and professionals in different fields of endeavours.

However, The Nation gathered in Abuja that efforts are being made by the Federal Government and the Nigeria Immigration Service to address issues relating to Passport scarcity both at home and abroad.

But the concerned authorities are not folding their arms. They are working to resolve the delays in the processes of obtaining passports by applicants.

Many Nigerians living abroad, who desire to spend the Yuletide in the country with their loved one, are likely going to miss the trip this year.

No thanks to their inability to have their expired international passports renewed at the Nigeria missions in their countries of residence.

More than 1000 Nigerians are believed to be stranded in Atlanta, United States (U.S.) because of expired travel documents for their inability to renew their passports.

The shortage of passport booklets and difficulties in  obtaining the National Identity Numbers (NIN) from the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) also complicate the plights.

Investigations by our reporter who spoke with the parents of some of the stranded citizens showed that the situation is the same in all the Caribbean countries of Jamaica, Bahamas, Cuba, Belize and Trinidad and Tobago.

One of the parent said it was becoming frustrating to hear their children narrating their agonising experiences on the phone and the inability of the Nigerian government to immediately address the problem.

According to the parent, officials of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) conducted biometric capturing of the data of Nigerians resident in Belize, a Commonwealth country, since June this year, but the officials are yet to make the passports available to them.

“As we speak, the officials, who came from Jamaica no longer pick the calls of the Nigerian citizens let alone to reply email messages. He expressed disappointment that his daughter has been stranded in Belize and could not travel to US as planned,” the parent narrated.

Another parent expressed disgust that the situation was becoming hopeless considering the numbers of Nigerians who have been stranded in different countries around the world and the pressures being mounted on the concerned authorities to address the problems.

She regretted that most affected by the scarcity of passports are students, workers and professionals in different fields of endeavours.

However, The Nation gathered in Abuja that efforts are being made by the Federal Government and the Nigeria Immigration Service to address issues relating to Passport scarcity both at home and abroad.

But the concerned authorities are not folding their arms. They are working to resolve the delays in the processes of obtaining passports by applicants.

NIGERIANS in the diaspora are having a taste of the sloppy manner official matters are handled in the country. This time around, they are experiencing the sordid state of affairs outside the shores of Nigeria and they are not amused by it at all.  They are decrying the scarcity of passport booklets for those who want to obtain the important document for themselves and/or their children and those who wish to renew their expired passports. They are unable to fathom why it is literally taking the Ministry of Interior and the Nigerian embassies an eternity to provide passport booklets months after capturing the biometrics of applicants. This is a sad and worrying development, but the truth is that the situation is even much worse for their compatriots who reside in Nigeria, not only in terms of passport issuance but also in respect of official provision of  other basic  social services.

For instance, it takes months for ordinary Nigerians who apply for passports in the country to get the booklets, whereas the affluent can be issued with theirs within  twenty four hours of applying for the document. And that is after paying multiples of the official price to unscrupulous officials who keep the difference between the bloated payment and the approved price for themselves. One can only hope that the unavailability of Nigerian passport booklets in missions abroad has nothing to do with the characteristic ignoble desire of civil servants in the embassies to issue the booklets to the highest bidder, just like their counterparts allegedly do back home. Otherwise, it would spell doom for the diaspora as it will negatively impact their chances to stay and earn their livelihood without running afoul of their host countries’ laws.

It is saddening to know that some of them are already losing their jobs because they were  unable to complete vital documentations that required  details of their valid International passports as critical inputs. Indeed, an organisation, the Nigerians in Diaspora Network (NDN), Germany chapter, released a video few days ago chronicling the travails of many Nigerians in that country and the consequences of the protracted scarcity of passport booklets. The group was worried that the prolonged delay in the issuance of the document to its members would create more “hardship for Nigerians and even put them at risk of deportation.”

There are quite a few questions that the Ministry of Interior will need to answer: why is it that there is still a supply-demand gap for Nigerian passports  after many years of its handling of their production and issuance? Is it that after all these years, the ministry has not been able to establish the demand patterns  for new passports, renewals as well as variations in normal and seasonal requests? Or is the scarcity, especially in Nigerian missions abroad, artificial, and to what end? The usual refrain from the Ministry of Interior is that it is working on the issuance. Diasporan Nigerians are said to be losing their jobs and some  cannot get their children officially registered with the state in their host countries, yet the minister keeps saying that “the government is working on it”.  What is so hard in printing booklets? And should production and issuance of passport booklets be an intractable challenge to the country in this day and age? This is really depressing. The ministry’s action is not only causing untold hardship to ordinary Nigerians and the  diaspora, it is also bringing shame to the country.

The revelation by NDN, Germany, that many of its members visited Nigerian embassies in other European countries, like they did in the past, to obtain or renew their passports, only to discover that the situation was the same in those countries too, is very concerning. That means the challenge is not just pervasive but also recurrent. Public sector service delivery in this country is deplorable and there is a need to reset it to conform to international best practices. Without doubt, and sadly so, the Ministry of Interior is representative of other government agencies in terms of ineffective service delivery. Its shortcomings are currently in the front burner of discourse just because of the sensitivity around its mandate. There should be a painstaking reform in the public sector to engender effectiveness and efficiency in service delivery, reward system for outstanding performance, and  sanction grid for lacklustre execution of mandates.

It is imperative to mention that the victims of official tardiness in service delivery who live in Nigeria can always find their ways around the impacts of  government agencies’ ineffectiveness. But the same cannot be said of Nigerians who live in saner climes where it is virtually impossible to get away with the  circumvention of processes and procedures.  It is also  important to remind the authorities that many  Nigerians decided to  live  abroad not necessarily because of their preference for foreign lands but because the socioeconomic situation in the country would not  permit them to earn a decent living. It would, therefore, be the height of insensitivity and even cruelty to put the diaspora at risk in the countries of their sojourn due to official sloppiness back home. Thus,  in addition to unraveling the causes of the current unavailability of passports booklets in Nigerian missions abroad, we urge the Ministries of Interior and Foreign Affairs to up the ante and ensure that  Nigerians living abroad are issued with their passports on request.

That is the least we expect from a government that promised to be different but chose to follow the despicable footpath of its predecessors in office by repeating the failure of governance that caused many a  Nigerian to travel out of the country in search of greener pastures.
https://tribuneonlineng.com/pa...

LAGOS – An Air Traffic Controller (ATC) of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) on Monday morning slumped and died on duty post at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.

The controller, identified as Inuk Effiong was said to be in his early 40s as at the time he died on duty on Monday at 4am.

Effiong was the second controller that has died in the last two weeks in NAMA. About two weeks ago, Mr. Francis Anwetin, the ATC Operations Manager, Asaba Airport was hit by a vehicle on close of work at the Asaba Airport.

He was said to have died on the spot right In front of the airport gate.

As at the time of filing this report, NAMA was yet to make an official statement, but a source close to the agency confirmed the development to our correspondent on phone.

Accordingly to the source, help could not immediately come to the deceased because of vehicular restrictions to the Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria (TRACON) site.

”Before they could get a vehicle and rush him to the hospital he passed on. I wish to appeal to the authorities particularly his immediate constituency NAMA, the magnanimous Minister of Aviation and the Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to please come to the immediate aid of his young family with the hope also that he will be compensated adequately to encourage others.

“While doing all these, may I appeal that the restriction of vehicle to the TRACON site be reviewed immediately while stress test carried out on the surviving ones.”

POLL

There has been a concern over the dearth of ATCs in NAMA prompting the management to even recall some officials from retirement.

Officials say the loss of the two ATCs had further depleted the rank of air traffic Controllers in the aviation sector.

Chinese Foreign Ministry in Beijing has warned Chinese citizens and firms working in the African continent against travelling to some risky areas amid kidnappings of Chinese citizens in Africa.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Zhao Lijian, on Monday confirmed the abduction of five Chinese nationals in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

He urged those in dangerous places to leave as soon as possible.

Zhao said the abductions took place during an attack on a gold mine in the village of Mukera in eastern Congo, adding that in another recent incident in Nigeria, three Chinese employees were also kidnapped.

The spokesperson stressed that there were “great security risks’’ in Nigeria and Congo, and these incidents were not the first of their kind either.

“China’s Foreign Ministry, embassies and consulates had previously advised nationals not to go to high-risk areas.’’

China has significantly increased its investments in the mining industry in Africa in recent years.

This has led to growing local resentment towards wealthy Chinese employees working in countries such as the resource-rich Congo, where living standards are extremely low.

In 2008, Congo’s former president Joseph Kabila signed a highly controversial nine-billion-dollar agreement guaranteeing China mining rights in the country in return for funding for much-needed infrastructure projects.

A few weeks ago, Kabila’s successor, Felix Tshisekedi, called for a review of the agreement and for what he termed “fairer deals”.

WASHINGTON — Ottawa is effectively installing "one-way" signs along the road to the Canada-U.S. border, critics complained Friday as the federal government promised to stop requiring costly COVID-19 tests to enter the country — but only for Canadian citizens and permanent residents returning from short-term visits.

As of Nov. 30, fully vaccinated travellers who can enter Canada by right won't be required to obtain a molecular test for COVID-19, such as a PCR test, if they've been in the United States for less than 72 hours, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos told a news conference.

"With more Canadians getting vaccinated every day, we can move forward, though cautiously, towards a more open border, economy and society," Duclos said. "At the same time, we can't let our guard down. Every one of us must work to protect the gains we have made."

The PCR test requirement for American visitors to Canada, he added, will be re-evaluated in due course, with an update on any plans for adjustments "at a later date."

The news was underwhelming to those in both countries who believe it's high time Canada stopped requiring the test altogether, arguing that the price tag of between $150-$300 per swab is proving a deterrent to the lucrative flow of incidental cross-border traffic.

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce promptly panned the decision, calling it a "one-way door on the border."

"Just as the holiday shopping season — the most important period for the retail sector — begins, Ottawa is making it easier for Canadians to cross-border shop while maintaining punitive restrictions that discourage fully vaccinated Americans from vacationing or shopping in Canada," chamber president and CEO Perrin Beatty said in a statement.

"The 72-hour cutoff is also arbitrary. It is hard to understand how travellers are low-risk for 72 hours, but become a danger at hour 73."

The National Airlines Council of Canada, which represents the country's largest carriers, said it was "somewhat encouraged" by the announcement, but in the same breath called it a "piecemeal approach" with no clear scientific justification.

"To our knowledge, no other country in the world has adopted such a narrow approach," council president and CEO Mike McNaney said in a statement.

New York congressman Rep. Brian Higgins, arguably the loudest U.S. critic of any persistent border restrictions against fully vaccinated travellers, sounded equally bemused.

"The public is again left confused and waiting for more information," Higgins said. "The same standard should be applied to all vaccinated travellers, regardless of which side of the border you are crossing into or where you live."

Public health officials in Ottawa insisted that the discrepancy in travel rules at the Canada-U.S. border has nothing to do with nationality. Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's chief public health officer, said it has more to do with "operational considerations" than anything else: the ability to keep tabs on people who enter the country.

For American visitors, "there is no way that we can actually follow them up in terms of return or the length of the trip," Tam said.

"For Canadians, there are systems in place that we can track in terms of someone leaving Canada and coming back in. But we are continuing to explore a phased approach to easing those measures."

Tam's deputy public health officer, Dr. Howard Njoo, said from an epidemiological perspective, it's reasonable to assume that in communities near the border where most short-term visitors are going to gather, the level of the virus is likely to be about the same on either side.

"If a Canadian wants to go across for a quick shopping trip in the U.S. … the actual risk for themselves, as well as when they come back to Canada, is pretty minimal," Njoo said.

"However, if you're just talking about Americans in general coming to Canada, you can see there's still lots of hot spots in the United States, and we have no idea what any given individual, regardless of nationality, what they've been doing or what community or situation they're coming from."

Friday's announcement did open Canada's borders to some: anyone who received the Sinopharm, Sinovac or Covaxin shots, approved by the World Health Organization and common in China, India and elsewhere around the world, will by the end of the month be considered fully vaccinated for travel purposes.

However, beginning early next year, the government will close loopholes for certain unvaccinated travellers, including international students, professional and amateur athletes, work permit holders and essential-service providers, including truck drivers. A family-reunification exemption will also end Jan. 15.

The only exceptions after that date will be for agricultural and food processing workers, marine crew members, those entering on compassionate grounds, new permanent residents to Canada, refugee resettlement and some children under the age of 18.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 19, 2021.

James McCarten, The Canadian Press

(Bloomberg) -- El Salvador intends to issue the world’s first sovereign Bitcoin bonds and build Bitcoin City, which will be free of income, property and capital gains taxes, President Nayib Bukele announced in the beach town of Mizata to a crowd of cheering Bitcoin enthusiasts.

El Salvador plans to issue $1 billion in tokenized U.S.-dollar denominated 10-year bonds to pay 6.5% via the Liquid Network, according to Samson Mow, chief strategy officer of Blockstream. Half of the funds of the so-called “volcano bond” will be converted to Bitcoin and the other half will be used for infrastructure and Bitcoin mining powered by geothermal energy, Mow said, while sharing the stage with Bukele.

After a five-year lockup period, the government will begin to sell its Bitcoins and pay an additional dividend to investors, Mow said. He told Bloomberg News on Thursday about his proposal.

Blockstream models show at the end of the 10th year of the bond, the annual percentage yield will be 146% due to Bitcoin’s projected appreciation, Mow said, forecasting Bitcoin will hit the $1 million mark within five years.

Mow said the lockup period on the bonds is designed to take $500 million in Bitcoin out of the market for five years, adding to the tokens’ scarcity and value.

Bitcoin reached an all-time high above $68,000 earlier in November, and has declined nearly 20% in the weeks since. Bukele has more than once responded to declines in the price of Bitcoin by “buying the dip”. As of the end of October, the country owned at least 1,100 of the tokens.

The plans will make El Salvador “the financial center of the world” and “the Singapore of Latin America,” Mow said, adding he expects other countries to follow suit. “The first countries that do this will have a massive advantage. This is the beginning of nation state Bitcoin FOMO,” Mow said, referring to the term “fear of missing out”.

READ MORE: El Salvador’s ‘Bitcoin Week’ Draws Faithful to Party, Preach (1)

Investors will also be awarded permanent residence and be fast-tracked to citizenship, Mow said while standing next to Bukele.

Bitcoin City will be built near the Conchagua volcano which will provide energy for mining, Bukele said, adding that Bitcoin bond issuance will begin in 2022. The only tax in Bitcoin City will be a 10% value-added tax to fund city construction and services, he said.

In September, El Salvador became the first country to accept Bitcoin as legal tender, a move met with both enthusiasm and protests in the months since.

(Updates with additional context and current Bitcoin price)