Djibouti named one of 20 retained US visa hubs in Africa amid major consular drawdown
The US State Department, under Secretary Marco Rubio, is consolidating its consular network in Africa, cutting the number of posts that process visa applications from roughly 50 to just 20 regional hubs, with implementation expected within weeks. Djibouti is among the 20 cities retained as a visa-processing hub, alongside the likes of Addis Ababa, Nairobi, Lagos, and Dakar. The move is part of a broader US tightening of immigration policy that has included visa suspensions for citizens of 19 countries (12 of them African), new bond requirements, and changes to green-card processing. Applicants from excluded countries will now have to travel to designated hubs, raising costs and delays.
Why it matters
Djibouti's selection as a regional visa hub reinforces its outsized strategic role in the Horn of Africa, where it already hosts US, French, Chinese, Japanese and other foreign military bases at the chokepoint of the Bab el-Mandeb strait. Retaining a fully functioning US consular operation signals Washington's continued investment in Djibouti as a logistical and diplomatic anchor even as it scales back its presence elsewhere on the continent. The drawdown also underscores a wider retrenchment of American soft power in Africa, which competitors like China may seek to exploit.