Africans denied visas for African trade summit in US

An African trade summit in California went ahead with no African attendees after the delegates were denied visas, Voice of America reports.

Mary Flowers, chairwoman of the annual African Global Economic & Development Summit, said they usually find 40 per cent of African guests faced visa problems. This year, however, every African citizen who requested a visa was rejected, she says.

"Every delegation, and it was sad to see because these people were so disheartened," she told Voice of America.

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She added that the experience was nothing new, but was "a discrimination issue with the African nations" that "we experience over and over and over".

Up to 100 African delegates were due to participate in the three-day event at the University of Southern California, which aims to foster business and trade partnerships between Africa and the US.

The Guardian says some are "now questioning whether the denials to [this year's] event could be tied to the anti-immigration policies of Donald Trump".

Trump's revised travel ban prohibits entry to the US for citizens of three African countries: Libya, Somalia and Sudan.

According to The Independent, those denied visas last week were from Sierra Leone, Guinea, Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia and South Africa, none of which are covered by the executive order.

The US State Department has yet to comment.