Barring any last-minute change in plans, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) authorities will on Saturday lift restrictions on flights arriving from Nigeria and 11 other African nations.

Recall that Nigeria and 11 other African countries were in December slammed with travel restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and the new variant, Omicron.

The authorities said flight arrivals can resume from countries like Botswana, Congo Republic, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, and Namibia.

Others are Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, the authorities said in a post on Twitter Wednesday.

UAE's National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA) said it was lifting the ban initially imposed as part of measures to prevent the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

“The excluded categories should present a negative COVID-19 test obtained within 48 hours of departure and a Rapid-PCR test at the airport within six hours of departure whenever possible and another PCR test at the airport upon arrival to UAE,” NCEMA said in a statement.

NCEMA also announced that entry procedures have been updated for flights originating from Ghana, Rwanda and Uganda.

Passengers are required to take a PCR test 48 hours before departure, test where possible at the departure airport, test on arrival and adhere to all precautionary measures when visiting the UAE.

The new rules come into effect by 2.30pm on Saturday, NCEMA said.

The UAE had on January 16 announced the resumption of flight operations to and from Ghana, Guinea, Angola, Ivory Coast and Uganda.