In total, African countries lost 60 million euros in rejected Schengen visa fees in 2024, analysis from the LAGO Collective has shown.

According to CNN, when Joel Anyaegbu’s application for a Schengen visa to travel to Barcelona was denied late last year, he was surprised but immediately reapplied.

He sent in more documents than were required, including bank statements and proof of property ownership in Nigeria.

He was rejected again.

“The information submitted regarding the justification for the purpose and conditions of the intended stay were not reliable,” read a checklist returned with his passport from the Spanish consulate in Lagos. The 32-year-old gaming consultant said he felt humiliated.

“I had to cancel meetings with partners at the conference I was attending,” he told CNN.

“I emailed the embassy to understand why I was denied but it has not been answered to date.”

Anyaegbu’s was among the 50,376 short-stay Schengen visa applications rejected in Nigeria last year, nearly half of all submissions, according to newly released data from the European Commission.

Applicants worldwide pay a non-refundable visa fee of 90 euros (about $100), so 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.

In total, African countries lost 60 million euros ($67.5 million) in rejected Schengen visa fees in 2024, analysis from the LAGO Collective showed.

The London-based research and arts organization has been monitoring data on European short-term visas since 2022 and said Africa is the continent worst affected by the cost of visa rejections.

“The poorest countries in the world pay the richest countries in the world money for not getting visas,” its founder Marta Foresti told CNN.

“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.”

She says this proves “inbuilt discrimination and bias” in the process.

A European Commission spokesperson told CNN that member states consider visa applications on a case-by-case basis.

“Each file is assessed by experienced decision-makers on its own merits, in particular regarding the purpose of stay, sufficient means of subsistence, and the applicants’ will to return to their country of residence after a visit to the EU,” the spokesperson said via email.

Africans have long complained about inconsistent, sometimes baffling decisions about who gets approved or denied while applying for European visas.

Cameroonian Jean Mboulé was born in France but when he applied for a visa in 2022 alongside his wife using similar documents, his application was rejected but hers was not.

“At the time she was unemployed but with a South African passport. She had no income but received a visa on the back of my financial statement,” he told CNN.

“But the embassy said they refused my application because my documents were fake, and they weren’t sure I would come back to South Africa, where I am a permanent resident, if I went to France.”

The 39-year-old regional executive took legal action in French courts and won, forcing the French embassy in Johannesburg to grant his visa and pay him a fine of 1,200 euros.

He told an administrative tribunal in the French city of Nantes that the embassy’s decision to deny him a visa was “tainted by insufficient reasoning.”

Mboulé pointed out that he had provided sufficient guarantees that he would return at the end of his trip to his wife and daughter in South Africa where he owns a building. After he got the visa, he chose to go to Mauritius instead as he didn’t want to spend his money in France.

The EU said its member states consider visa applications on a case-by-case basis.

The Cameroonian’s case is unique as many Africans denied Schengen visas rarely appeal or contest the decisions in court.

Like Anyaegbu, the Nigerian gaming consultant, they often reapply, losing more money in the process.

Mboulé has travelled several times to the UK and other African countries but was still denied twice for Schengen.

“The financial cost of rejected visas is just staggering; you can think of them as ‘reverse remittances,’ money flowing from poor to rich countries, which we never hear about,” the LAGO Collective’s Foresti says.

Schengen visa fees increased from 80 to 90 euros in July 2024, making it even more expensive for the world’s poorest applicants.

But South African management lecturer Sikhumbuzo Maisela said the visa rejection rates for Africans were lower than he expected.

“The visa vetting process seems to be shaped less by outright prejudice and more by historical patterns of behaviour,” he told CNN via email.

“Western countries have had instances where visa holders overstayed or violated terms, and this has influenced how future applications are scrutinized.”

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has partnered with Standard Chartered to bolster local currency financing for private enterprises in emerging markets.

Standard Chartered will provide local currency loans to IFC in selected markets, which IFC will subsequently on-lend to private-sector projects.

The inaugural transaction under this collaboration is a loan of 9 billion Kenyan shillings (equivalent to approximately 70 million US dollars) to IFC, which will support the advancement of digital infrastructure in Kenya.

“With exchange rate volatility and rising debt pressures the need for local currency financing in emerging markets has become increasingly evident. When businesses borrow in the same currency as their revenues, they can concentrate on growth instead of exchange rate fluctuations,” said John Gandolfo, IFC Vice President and Treasurer, Treasury & Mobilization. “As we increase our local currency financing abilities, we plan to replicate this facility in other currencies across the globe.”

Sunil Kaushal, Global Co-Head, Corporate & Investment Banking, and CEO, ASEAN and South Asia markets, Standard Chartered said: “This landmark transaction in Kenya reflects our commitment to supporting financial resilience in local markets.

By partnering with IFC, we’re delivering local currency solutions that help corporates in emerging markets manage currency volatility and access the long-term capital they need to grow. With our deep roots and liquidity access across emerging markets, we are well positioned to scale this initiative and enable more businesses to access stable financing options.”

Kariuki Ngari, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Kenya and Africa, Standard Chartered said: “This partnership represents a pivotal step forward in enhancing Africa’s financial resilience. By facilitating local currency financing, we not only address one of the most significant challenges facing the businesses across the continent – exchange rate vitality – but also open up new avenues for long term economic growth.

Kenya’s digital infrastructure sector is particularly well positioned to benefit from this inaugural transaction, setting the stage for scalable and sustainable financing solutions. These models will drive economic growth and empower local enterprises supporting prosperity across Africa.”

Exchange rate volatility presents a risk for companies that borrow in hard currency, such as the US dollar, but get paid in local currency.

Many local companies in emerging markets lack the capacity to effectively manage these currency risks. Therefore, securing local currency financing at competitive rates with flexible features is increasingly important to meet the growing need for diverse financing options among local companies.

IFC has increased its collaboration with global, regional and local banks to provide more local currency financing to clients. The organization has offered local currency products—such as loans and bonds, structured finance products, and risk-management solutions since the early 1990s.

Between FY15 and FY24, IFC committed local currency senior debt financing of over $30 billion US dollars in 67 local currencies through loans and bonds, structured products, and risk-management solutions.

In line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda to enhance governance for effective service delivery, and with NITDA asserting its mandate as the clearing house for all government Information Technology, (IT) projects, the Agency has taken the campaign on the imperative of scrutinizing IT projects of the Federal Public Institutions to the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Office of the Auditor General of the Federation and Bureau of Public Procurement.

The visit focused on the presentation of NITDA’s Reviewed IT Project Clearance Guidance Document—an updated framework designed to standardise the planning, funding, and execution of IT projects in line with national digital economy goals.

The document, a revision of the 2018 Guidelines for Clearance of IT Projects, emphasises cost-effectiveness, regulatory compliance, and transparency, reinforcing NITDA’s role as the clearing house for all government IT initiatives under the National Information Technology Development Act (2007.)

During these visits, NITDA’s Director General emphasised that the Agency cannot work in isolation to achieve the Renewed Hope Agenda of transforming the economy digitally. “And we need to explore how we can strengthen our partnerships and collaborations in line with the President’s agenda.”

He averred that there is need to be more focused and intentional in the implementation of IT projects if the country wants to maintain its leading position in Africa. “56 percent IT projects failed to deliver on what were promised because we go for latest technology, and failure to design before building the technology and lack of consideration for the business value proposition we are trying to deliver with the projects, he decried.

Inuwa informed his hosts that in order to safeguard against that, NITDA has reviewed the IT Clearance Guideline because experience has shown that most Ministries, Departments and Agencies build IT projects based on the proposal submitted to them by the contractors who would design the projects, implement them and operate them which give no room for accountability and transparency and that has led to the failure of many IT projects.

“We are building a digitised government service; and government is one. We need to work together, work harmoniously, the same way IT system works to deliver these services. For us to achieve this, we need to be more intentional in the way we design, and implement. And if we continue to design and implement in silos, they will never worked together, he warned.

He maintained that the idea behind the reviewed guideline is to ensure that IT projects are designed in line in line with the mindset of interoperability in order for Ministries Departments and Agencies, (MDAs) to explore shared services and follow the best practices and standard.

“The guideline will guide MDAs on how to design, operate and how to maintain system because building of these systems is beyond technology but people, processes and key components of that are paramount.

According to the Director General, the proposed guideline has three steps of IT projects implementations which are; the Solution Design, the Implementation and Quality Assurance steps. He added that going forward; contractors are required to get license and certified employees on these three steps for their companies before government’s IT projects could be awarded to them.

“These measures are designed to eliminate corruption, prevent duplication, and ensure that government IT initiatives are structured to create meaningful change—fostering efficiency, equity, and fairness in public service.”

At the Bureau of Public Procurement, the Director General, Dr. Adebowale Adedokun stressed the significance of standardising IT Project Bidding Documents. He remarked, “It is disheartening that organisations misuse IT projects to siphon public funds—resources that could otherwise be channeled towards impactful initiatives that can transform the country.

He disclosed that MDAs come with IT projects that were adopted without standardisation and guideline “but with this new guideline our decision should pave ways for the development of the IT sector of the country.”

While describing the meeting as crucial to eradicate corruption in the implementation of IT projects, he noted that because most IT projects component are intangible, official leverage them to siphon public fund, adding that the Bureau has developed a standard bidding document for the IT procurement.

He said, “We have huge responsibility with NITDA to avoid corruption, duplication of IT projects and ensure transparency and accountability in the award of IT projects for the Federal Public Institutions. It is disheartening that we are consuming resources that can be deployed to meet other needs of the country and we need to stop this and say no to wastage.”

He tasked NITDA to reconsider service-wide procurement of licenses of organisations like Microsoft, Oracle and others, and also develop a template for IT Price Intelligence which the Bureau can rely on for costing. “We are not IT experts, if NITDA can help us with data on the prices of IT related products which can serve as benchmark for pricing, it will go a long way in our review.

Dr Adedokun equally canvassed for capacity building for the government’s staff in IT cadre so they would not be outsmarted by contractors.

Both NITDA and BPP agreed to constitute a working committee that would work out modalities for the realisation of the entire intended plan and sign a Memorandum of Understanding on its implementation.

At the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation, the Auditor General of the Federation, Shaakaa Kanyitor Chira, remarked that NITDA needs to be commended for its thoughtfulness for bringing the guideline forward for its review and inputs.

He assured that once the policy becomes operational, the Office of the Auditor General will conduct a performance audit to assess whether it is effectively contributing to the betterment of the country.

Similarly, the Accountant General, Shamseldeen Ogunjimi, commended NITDA’s efforts to standardise IT project implementation and expressed readiness to support the integration of the clearance guidelines into financial processes.

By presenting the Reviewed IT Project Clearance Guidance Document, NITDA aims to ensure that the AGF’s financial oversight aligns with its vision of a digitally transformed public sector. The collaboration is expected to enhance service delivery, curb inefficiencies, and position Nigeria as a leader in technology-driven governance.

It could be recalled that NITDA, in 2018 unveiled the Guideline for IT Project Clearance and the Agency has been able to save over N300 billion for the country in its effort at clearing IT project.