US to cut visa processing locations in Africa to 20 embassies, consulates

The United States has unveiled plans to significantly reduce the number of embassies and consulates in Africa that handle visa processing for foreign travellers. 

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The US State Department intends to scale down the current network of nearly 50 visa-processing missions across Africa to just 20 locations in the coming weeks. 

The report, based on officials and an internal memo, stated that the directive was communicated to US diplomats, including consular chiefs, during a conference call last Friday, May 29. 

US  Secretary of State Marco Rubio reportedly approved the decision last week, according to the officials and the memo. 

Under the new arrangement, the 20 designated visa-processing hubs will include Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire), Accra (Ghana), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Cape Town and Johannesburg (South Africa), Dakar (Senegal), Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), Djibouti (Djibouti), Kampala (Uganda), Kigali (Rwanda), Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Lagos (Nigeria), Lomé (Togo), Luanda (Angola), Malabo (Equatorial Guinea), Monrovia (Liberia), Nairobi (Kenya), Port Louis (Mauritius), Praia (Cape Verde), and Yaoundé (Cameroon).

The exact implementation date has not been officially confirmed. 

The move comes months after the Trump administration reportedly recalled ambassadors from more than two dozen countries, with Africa among the most affected regions.