An apparent crackdown on visa overstays is muddying the waters and hitting the wallets of Afrobeats artists trying to tour the U.S.
In February, before most of the world had banned cross-border travel to try to contain the coronavirus outbreak, four members of Nigerian megastar Davido’s team waited patiently in Lagos, Nigeria, for a response from the U.S.
State Department on whether they would be allowed to travel to the United States. They had all applied for visas to join the Afrobeats performer on an 18-city swing through the United States.
Among the applicants was Davido’s longtime bodyguard, Tijani, who had worked for the star since 2013, making trips all over Africa, as well as to the United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates.