Trump’s expanded travel ban hits Africa the hardest but reactions are muted

Africa has been the hardest hit by the Trump administration’s decision to add 20 countries to a list of travel restrictions but reactions on the continent of some 1.5 billion people were largely muted on Wednesday as affected nations mulled the implications of the measure and their next moves.

The new restrictions expand on the list from June and are broader and more punitive than those during Trump’s first presidency, which largely targeted Muslim-majority countries and which were reversed in 2021.

The African Union urged the United States to protect its borders in “a manner that is balanced, evidence-based, and reflective of the long-standing ties and partnership” between the U.S. and Africa, the bloc’s spokesman Nuur Mohamu said.

The stance was a repeat of the statement by the bloc in June, when U.S. President Donald Trump revived the travel restrictions from his first term in office.

The expanded ban

Of