5 African countries with the highest Schengen visa rejection rates

Visa applications tend to be the first obstacle people encounter while looking to travel. In Africa, some countries find the process frustrating due to startlingly high rate in which they are denied visas. For context, 70% of the top 10 countries in the world with the highest visa rejection rates into the Schengen region of Europe (which encompasses 29 countries) are African.

One of the groups heavily affected by visa rejections is the entrepreneurs. Hard-working business folks who sometimes, depending on the region they are born in, face forestalling in business growth due to an inability to expand outside of their borders.

This stifling of economic opportunities not only hampers the growth potential of African businesses but also perpetuates a cycle of dependency on domestic markets.

Aside from seeking economic opportunities, some Africans in certain regions looking to travel for vacation, education or just visiting purposes have had their visas rejected.

There is also a sense of isolation when one is denied entry into a foreign region. As a result, concerted efforts must be made by governments to promote visa liberalization, streamline application processes, and combat discriminatory practices.

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.

The other 2 countries on the list are Guinea and Mali, with rejection rates of 40.6% and 39.9% respectively.