‘The US was our El Dorado’: Africans on Trump’s travel bans and taxes

Already affected by US aid cuts, many Africans now face limits on travel to US and looming remittance tax

W

hen Essi Farida Geraldo, a Lomé-based architect, heard about partial restrictions on travel to the US from Togo as part of the travel bans announced by Donald Trump on Thursday, she lamented losing access to what many young Togolese consider to be a land of better opportunities.

“The United States was the Togolese’s El Dorado,” Geraldo said. “Many people go to work in the US to save money and support their families or projects in Africa … This will force the country to really develop stronger partnerships that exclude the US.”

Trump’s order, which is to come into effect on Monday, prohibits people from seven African countries – Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Libya, Somalia and Sudan – from entering the US, making Africa the worst-affected continent. People from another three African countries – Burundi, Sierra Leone and Togo – will be subject to partial restrictions, meaning they will not be able to travel to the US on certain visas.