The United States of America (USA) has announced its plans to reduce the number of embassies and consulates in Africa involved in processing visa applications.
According to reports, there are nearly 50 USA embassies and consulates presently processing visa applications in Africa, but the USA plans to reduce it from 50 to 20.
This development was communicated in a memo signed by Marco Rubio, secretary of state and addressed to US diplomats, including consular chiefs.
According to the memo, the 20 visa processing hubs are Abidjan, Ivory Coast; Accra, Ghana; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Cape Town, South Africa; Dakar, Senegal; Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania; Djibouti, Djibouti; Johannesburg, South Africa; Kampala, Uganda; Kigali, Rwanda; and Kinshasa, Congo.
Others are Lagos, Nigeria; Lome, Togo; Luanda, Angola; Malabo, Equatorial Guinea; Monrovia, Liberia; Nairobi, Kenya; Port Louis, Mauritius; Praia, Cape Verde; and Yaounde, Cameroon.
Consular sections in non-hub countries will stay open, but their activities will be limited to assisting American citizens with passport renewals, emergency consular requests, special national interest cases, as well as diplomatic visa applications.
