The United States has designated just 20 visa‑processing hubs across Africa, sharply reducing the number of embassies and consulates handling applications and raising concerns that travellers from many countries will face longer waits and cross‑border trips for interviews.
The US State Department plans to close 30 embassies and consulates that process visas in Africa, consolidating operations into regional centres stretching from Praia in Cape Verde to Port Louis in Mauritius.
The 20 designated hubs include embassies or consulates in Abidjan, Accra, Addis Ababa, Cape Town, Dakar, Dar es Salaam, Djibouti City, Johannesburg, Kampala, Kigali, Kinshasa, Lagos, Lomé, Luanda, Malabo, Monrovia, Nairobi, Port Louis, Praia and Yaoundé.
South Africa is the only country to host two hubs – in Cape Town and Johannesburg – while Nigeria’s Abuja mission, suspended in late May, is excluded from the list, leaving only Lagos operational.
US officials say the redesignation is intended to “concentrate resources” and improve efficiency for business travellers, investors and students.
But applicants from countries without a hub – including Botswana, Zambia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe – may now need to travel abroad for in‑person interviews, a requirement critics say will deepen inequities and complicate access for ordinary travellers.
Analysts warn the hub system could reshape how millions of Africans access the US in the years ahead.
The move is the latest made by President Donald Trump’s administration to cut back on pathways for immigrants seeking to head to the US, which has included travel bans affecting many African and Asian countries.
JN/APA