A US-Africa energy summit scheduled for later September has been
cancelled after African invitees were denied US visas, organisers
said on Wednesday.
A notice to prospective attendees said the fully booked two-day
event would not take place “because of the denial of US visas to
the vast majority of registered African participants, which, as a
result, defeated the purpose of the summit and made it
untenable”.
Olivier Kamanzi, the Rwandan head of the Chicago-based Africa
Global Chamber of Commerce, was among the scheduled speakers at the
summit set to take place in Madison, the capital of the state of
Wisconsin.
The ambassadors to the US from Botswana, Ghana and South Africa
were also listed as speakers, along with the coordinator of former
President Obama’s Power Africa programme.
TRUMP POLICY
“This is part of a broad policy of the Trump administration to
deny, stall and obstruct visa requests regardless of their source,”
said Samba Baldeh, a native of Gambia and an elected official in
Madison.
“These denials are for everyone, from visits from a member of an
immediate family, to former heads of state.”
The inability of most invitees from Africa to obtain US visas
“squandered a great opportunity for energy-deprived nations to work
with advanced energy providers of the US and Wisconsin,” Mr Baldeh
added in comments reported by the Wisconsin State Journal.
“This policy isolated the US from the business and culture of
the rest of the world.”
Another US-Africa summit scheduled to be held in California in
March was also cancelled because none of the 60 African government
and business leaders were able to obtain visas.
GLOBAL CONFERENCE
Three previous African Global Economic and Development
conferences went ahead despite denial of visas to about 40 percent
of participants who would have travelled from Africa, lead
organiser Mary Flowers told Voice of America.
“This year it was 100 percent. Every delegation. And it was sad
because these people were so disheartened,” Ms Flowers noted.
“I have to say that most of us feel it is a discrimination issue
with the African nations,” she added.
“We experience it over and over and over, and the people being
rejected are legitimate business people with ties to the
continent.”
Responding to a query from Nation, the State Department said
Thursday that “visa applications are not automatically denied. Each
visa application is considered individually and in accordance with
US law.”
A department official added that “the US welcomes travellers for
tourism and business.”
The official did not comment on the issue of Africans prevented
from attending conferences in the US, saying, “Since visa records
are confidential under the Immigration and Nationality Act, we are
not able to discuss specific visa cases.”
A US-Africa energy summit scheduled for later September has been
cancelled after African invitees were denied US visas, organisers
said on Wednesday.
A notice to prospective attendees said the fully booked two-day
event would not take place “because of the denial of US visas to
the vast majority of registered African participants, which, as a
result, defeated the purpose of the summit and made it
untenable”.
Olivier Kamanzi, the Rwandan head of the Chicago-based Africa
Global Chamber of Commerce, was among the scheduled speakers at the
summit set to take place in Madison, the capital of the state of
Wisconsin.
The ambassadors to the US from Botswana, Ghana and South Africa
were also listed as speakers, along with the coordinator of former
President Obama’s Power Africa programme.
TRUMP POLICY
“This is part of a broad policy of the Trump administration to
deny, stall and obstruct visa requests regardless of their source,”
said Samba Baldeh, a native of Gambia and an elected official in
Madison.
“These denials are for everyone, from visits from a member of an
immediate family, to former heads of state.”
The inability of most invitees from Africa to obtain US visas
“squandered a great opportunity for energy-deprived nations to work
with advanced energy providers of the US and Wisconsin,” Mr Baldeh
added in comments reported by the Wisconsin State Journal.
“This policy isolated the US from the business and culture of
the rest of the world.”
Another US-Africa summit scheduled to be held in California in
March was also cancelled because none of the 60 African government
and business leaders were able to obtain visas.
GLOBAL CONFERENCE
Three previous African Global Economic and Development
conferences went ahead despite denial of visas to about 40 percent
of participants who would have travelled from Africa, lead
organiser Mary Flowers told Voice of America.
“This year it was 100 percent. Every delegation. And it was sad
because these people were so disheartened,” Ms Flowers noted.
“I have to say that most of us feel it is a discrimination issue
with the African nations,” she added.
“We experience it over and over and over, and the people being
rejected are legitimate business people with ties to the
continent.”
Responding to a query from Nation, the State Department said
Thursday that “visa applications are not automatically denied. Each
visa application is considered individually and in accordance with
US law.”
A department official added that “the US welcomes travellers for
tourism and business.”
The official did not comment on the issue of Africans prevented
from attending conferences in the US, saying, “Since visa records
are confidential under the Immigration and Nationality Act, we are
not able to discuss specific visa cases.”
Read more https://nairalaw.com/denial-of-visas-forces-cancellation-of-us-africa-energy-summit/