Source: Africa Publicity
Citizens of African nations lost about 60 million euros ($67.5 m) in rejected Schengen visa fees in 2024, analysis from the LAGO Collective, a London-based research and arts organization, has revealed.
According to LAGO Collective, Africa is the continent worst affected by the cost of visa rejections.
In 2024, according to newly released data from the European Commission, 50,376 short-stay Schengen visa applications were rejected in Nigeria nearly half of all submissions.
Applicants worldwide accordingly pay a non-refundable visa fee of 90 euros (about $100), meaning Nigerians alone lost over 4.5 million euros (about $5 million) seeking permission to travel to the 29 European countries that make up the Schengen Area.
A CNN report quoted LAGO Collective founder, Marta Foresti, as saying: “The poorest countries in the world pay the richest countries in the world money for not getting visas,” adding that “As in 2023, the poorer the country of application, the higher the rejection rates. African countries are disproportionately affected with rejection rates as high as 40-50% for countries like Ghana, Senegal and Nigeria.”
According to her, this proves “inbuilt discrimination and bias” in the process.
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