When looking to travel, the first challenge most individuals face is applying for a visa. Some African nations find the process exasperating because of the remarkably high percentage of visa rejections. To put things in perspective, seventy percent of the top ten countries in the world with the highest rates of visa rejection in the Schengen area of Europe—which consists of twenty-nine countries—are African.
Entrepreneurs are among the most affected groups when their visas are denied. Hardworking businesspeople who occasionally see business growth being impeded by their incapacity to go beyond their borders, depending on the region in which they were born.
In addition to impeding African enterprises’ ability to grow, this suppression of economic prospects feeds the continent’s cycle of reliance on home markets.
In addition to pursuing employment, certain Africans in particular locations have experienced visa rejection when trying to travel for leisure, education, or simply to visit.
Refusing to allow someone access to a foreign territory can leave one feeling alone. Governments must thus work together to encourage the liberalization of visa requirements, expedite the application process, and stop discriminatory actions.
This leaves the question of which countries in Africa suffer this complication the most.
According to a recent report by Henley and Partners, ranking the 10 countries in the world with the highest Schengen visa rejection rates, “Africa accounted for seven of the top ten countries with the highest Schengen visa rejection rates in 2022.”
“Globally, the absolute number of Schengen visa applications decreased from 16.7 million in 2014 to 7.6 million in 2022, representing a decline of almost 9 million applications. In other words, the global number of Schengen visa applications declined by nearly 54.7%,” the report reads.
However, “African visa applicants face more severe restrictions compared to applicants from other regions, resulting in a disproportionately high rejection rate. In 2022, Africa topped the list of rejections with 30% or one in three of all processed applications being turned down, even though it had the lowest number of visa applications per capita,” the report adds.
With that said here are the 5 African countries with the highest Schengen visa rejection rates.
| Rank | Country | Schengen visa applications | Schengen visa rejections | Rejection rates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Algeria | 392,053 | 179,409 | 45.8% |
| 2. | Guinea-Bissau | 7,990 | 3,611 | 45.2% |
| 3. | Nigeria | 86,815 | 39,189 | 45.1% |
| 4. | Ghana | 42,124 | 18,363 | 43.6% |
| 5. | Senegal | 56,866 | 23,683 | 41.6% |
The other 2 countries on the list are Guinea and Mali, with rejection rates of 40.6% and 39.9% respectively