President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to receive Ramaphosa and other top government officials from his administration on a three-day visit to Nigeria between November 29 and December 1, barring any last-minute changes.

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases in South Africa reported 22 positive cases connected to the new COVID-19 strain, with the percentage testing positive “growing rapidly.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) identified the B.1.1.529 strain as a “variant of concern” and dubbed it “Omicron.”

So far, the extensively mutated new variant has been discovered in South Africa, Botswana, and Hong Kong.

This development has prompted the ban of travelers from Southern African countries by the 27-member European Union (EU), and the United States, Britain, Canada, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and UAE.

The EU’s executive “will propose, in close coordination with member states, to activate the emergency brake to stop air travel from the southern African region due to the variant of concern B.1.1.529,” EU chief, Ursula Von der Leyen, had tweeted on Friday.

The EU countries are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden.

The US announced on Friday that it would be restricting travel from eight southern African countries over fears of the new variant, which some had expected to be named Nu but which has now been dubbed Omicron.

Travel would be mostly banned starting on Monday (tomorrow) from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, and Malawi, a senior official in President Joe Biden’s administration, had reportedly said

However, only US citizens and permanent residents will still be able to travel from the eight countries.

Canada also banned travelers from seven African countries – Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe – over concerns about the variant.

Ramaphosa’s planned visit has raised concerns in Nigeria following the new strain of COVID-19.

“What is the federal government’s dilemma over the visit? Is Nigeria going to receive the South African President and other officials when other countries are banning travelers from South Africa? Is the federal government going to tell them not to come? Under what structure are they going to come?” a top official of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) queried.

The visit will be President Ramaphosa’s first visit to Nigeria in his official capacity as the substantive president since he was elected some three years ago.

He had visited Nigeria in 2018, as the acting president, following the exit of former President Jacob Zuma from office.

There are about 120 South African firms in Nigeria, including the telecommunication giant, MTN, DSTV whose parent company, Multichoice, remains the number one leading player in the cable TV ecosystem in the country.

However, only a few Nigerian firms are operating in South Africa