The United States State Department will slash the variety of visa processing embassies and consulates in Africa from almost 50 to 20 in the coming weeks, an internal memo acquired by the Associated Press has revealed.
Offered Trump’s existing travel restriction impacting 29 African nations, the plans were not met with shock among worldwide teachers, though they condemned its shortsightedness.
“The US retreat from Africa, while not a surprise, will have major implications for years to come in economic, diplomatic and political spheres,” stated William Gertz, chairman of the American Institute for Foreign Research Study (AIFS).
“However perhaps the best loss will remain in the skill pool which this continent offers to universities and businesses who wish to internationalise.”
“Africa is lively and young, and we will miss their people significantly,” Gertz added.
According to the dripped information, the regulation was approved by secretary of state Marco Rubio recently and includes strategies to reduce consular operations in all however 20 “centers” throughout the continent.
This indicates consulates in non-hub nations will have limited services and will not be authorised to give US visas. Individuals will need to travel to one of the 20 websites, sustaining travel costs and challenges.
While not resolving the details of the memo, a State Department representative informed The PIE News that it is “continuously assessing its abroad operations in order to deploy taxpayer resources in a manner that advances America’s priorities as effectively and effectively as possible”.
They maintained that international operations continue as regular, including the department would “continue to offer Americans with suitable consular services and help at diplomatic post all over the world”.
But as US higher education faces a domestic enrolment cliff and continues to lose popularity as a global research study location, critics state the strategies are yet another of example of a government “out of touch”.
Simisola Smith, West Africa associate director at Grok Global, said the development would likely compound existing issues around visas and policy uncertainty, however that demand for United States education stayed “significant”.
“The motivating point it that demand has actually not disappeared,” she stated. “The problem is less about a lack of demand and more about increasing friction and lowered self-confidence.”
On the other hand, NAFSA deputy executive director of public policy, Jill Allen Murray said she was “alarmed” by the proposed decreases and “deeply worried” about the additional barriers it would develop.
“Visa visit schedule, processing delays and high rejection rates were already major barriers for gifted trainees from the continent,” she said, highlighting the travel ban already in place.
“Closing the door to African youth is especially shortsighted given a stark market truth: international population growth is anticipated to slow over the rest of the century everywhere other than Africa,” stated Allen Murray.
Somewhere else, experts have stated that as the United States retreats, other locations are investing in relationships throughout Africa, in specific America’s competitors.
Strikingly, the China FOCAC flagship cooperation framework with the continent saw President Xi promise 50,000 scholarships plus 50,000 training chances for African trainees, “dwarfing anything the US, UK, or France placed on the table”, said Sunrise International founder and China professional David Weeks.
What’s more, Beijing just recently dedicated another 60,000 training chances in its 2025-2027 action strategy. “So the scoreboard is pretty clear”, Weeks added.
“If you’re a leading physics trainee in Zambia right now, the United States will not provide you a visa. China will provide you a scholarship.”
The relocation is part of the Trump administration’s continuous migration crackdown, which has seen significant staffing reductions at worldwide consulates and enhanced vetting procedures, resulting in aggravating hold-ups in US visa processing.
As per federal information upgraded last month, students obtaining a visa interview in Accra, Ghana, or Dar-Es-Salaam, Senegal, must wait 2.5 and 4 months respectively for a visit.
While both of these consulates are supposedly among the 20 centers to remain open, Senegal is presently subject to partial constraints under America’s broadened travel ban, disallowing Senegalese trainees from entering the US.
If you’re a top physics trainee in Zambia right now, the US will not give you a visa. China will give you a scholarship.
David Weeks, Sunrise International
Deby Okoh, Africa regional supervisor at Brunel University in the UK, said that African students’ “trust erosion” in the US had actually grown over current years due to visa delays, migration rhetoric and ease of access concerns, which restoring confidence in the destination would take time.
While the UK is facing its own migration policy difficulties, Okoh stated UK organizations “continue to invest actively across Africa through partnerships, recruitment activities, scholarships and local engagement”.
“Compared to the United States, the UK currently appears more noticeably engaged within the area and more student centric (though that’s debatable),” she said.
Smith restated the requirement for United States institutions to keep strong African engagement, particularly with parents and counsellors who play a large function in trainee decision making. She highlighted to the truth the UK’s engagement in Africa remains “tangible and active” during market uncertainty.
What’s more, specialists emphasised the variety throughout the continent which shouldn’t be considered as a single market.
On the other hand in the US, a coalition of sector bodies have advised the State Department to exempt worldwide trainees from Trump’s travel ban — initially executed in June 2025 and expanded later that year to include 40 countries and territories.
Especially, the broadened restriction consists of Nigeria, America’s 8th largest accomplice of worldwide students, with Open Doors information exposing more than 21,000 Nigerian trainees at United States colleges in 2024/25.
According to the recent memo, the 20 centers to remain open for all processing 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; Kinshasa, Congo; Lagos, Nigeria; Lome, Togo; Luanda, Angola; Malabo, Equatorial Guinea; Monrovia, Liberia; Nairobi, Kenya; Port Louis, Mauritius; Praia, Cape Verde; and Yaounde, Cameroon.
< img src ="// www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%200%200'%3E%3C/svg%3E"/ > < img src="https://thepienews.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/IHCL-embedded.jpg"/ >