This quest for greener pastures has over the years, resulted in a significant increase in the Schengen visa application numbers.
The upward trajectory in African migration rate has been atributed to a combination of structural and governance factors in the continent. These factors have been projected to increase Africa’s cross border migration to 11 to 12 million people by 2050 if the current trends continues.
The African diaspora has grown significantly since 1990, with Europe, Asia, and North America hosting the majority of African-born migrants, with 11 million, 5 million, and 3 million respectively, and Europe seeing the most pronounced growth.
The Schengen area comprises 29 European countries that have agreed to harmonize their entry and exit regulations, eliminating the need for internal border controls and facilitating free movement between member states.
According to the Schengen Visa statistics, the Schengen states generated US$906 million from visa applications in 2023 and US$145 million of the revenue came from rejected visa applications.
African nationals lost US$61 million in application fees to these rejections.
Although visa-approving authorities have the discretion to deny visas, the primary reason for rejection is often related to concerns about the applicant’s intention to depart the destination country before the visa expiration date.
A report by The Conversation identifies two major reasons for the increased rejections – income and passport power – which explains why African applicants face higher Schengen visa rejection rates.
The table below sourced from the Schengen Visa Statistics highlights the top 10 African countries with the highest Schengen visa applications in 2023.
| Rank | Country | Applicants | Global rank |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Morocco |
591,401 |
4 |
|
2 |
Algeria |
474,032 |
6 |
|
3 |
South Africa |
204,221 |
12 |
|
4 |
Tunisia |
159,740 |
19 |
|
5 |
Nigeria |
105,926 |
23 |
|
6 |
Angola |
72,549 |
30 |
|
7 |
Ivory Coast |
71,414 |
31 |
|
8 |
Senegal |
64,392 |
32 |
|
9 |
Kenya |
56,187 |
35 |
|
10 |
Ghana |
45,421 |
39 |
Despite the large application figures, African countries had the highest rejection rates during the period.
A report by the British migration consultancy Henley & Partners shows that African countries accounted for seven of the top ten countries with the highest Schengen visa rejection rates in 2022.
As at 2014, the global rejection rate was 5% while 18% of African visa applications were rejected. The rejection rate for African applicants had risen to 30% by 2022 while the global rate increased to 17.5%.
