Nigeria is among a few African countries excluded from a draft executive order for a travel ban to the United States being considered by the Trump White House.
A travel ban would restrict people carrying the passports of the banned countries from entering the United States.
For instance, in his first term, US President Donald Trump imposed a travel ban, which was a series of executive actions taken by the U.S. President restricting entry into the United States by certain foreign nationals, beginning with Executive Order 13769, issued on January 27, 2017.
Other major African economies such as South Africa, Ghana, and Kenya were also not included in the proposed restrictions.
According to a report by The New York Times on Friday, US diplomatic and security officials have drafted a list categorizing countries into three levels of restrictions—red, orange, and yellow—each with different levels of travel limitations
Citizens of the 11 countries on the Red list would be completely barred from entering the US.
These include Libya, Somalia, and Sudan from Africa, as well as Afghanistan, Bhutan, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen.
Travelers from the 10 countries in the Orange list category may face travel limitations, with affluent business travelers potentially exempted, while those on immigrant or tourist visas would likely be denied entry.
African nations on this list include Eritrea, Sierra Leone, and South Sudan. Other countries listed are Belarus, Haiti, Laos, Myanmar, Pakistan, Russia, and Turkmenistan.
The 22 countries in the Yellow list category will be given a 60-day period to address concerns before facing potential restrictions. African nations dominate this list with 16 countries, including Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Zimbabwe. The remaining six countries are Antigua and Barbuda, Cambodia, Dominica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and Vanuatu.
Despite Nigeria’s omission from the draft list, concerns remain over whether the final version will include additional countries. The report, citing an anonymous official, emphasized that the list is still under review and has not yet been approved by the administration. If implemented, the new restrictions would be broader than those imposed during President Trump’s first term.
