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An energy summit aimed at bringing African leaders and U.S. energy providers, researchers and regulators to Madison this month has been postponed indefinitely because most of the African registrants were denied visas, organizers said.

The US-Africa Energy Summit 2017, which was to be hosted by UW-Platteville and scheduled for Sept. 18-19 at Monona Terrace, was canceled after the U.S. Department of State refused to issue visas to key presenters and attendees, professor and summit organizer John O. Ifediora said.

About 80 percent of the participants from countries including Botswana, Ghana and South Africa were denied visas because they “did not meet the minimum requirements for a U.S. visa,” Ifediora said.

Kevin Brosnahan of the Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs said that most visa applications are approved worldwide, but the most common reason for denial on a business or tourism visa application is that the applicant didn’t show sufficient ties to his or her home country to compel them to return.

“We are working very hard to rectify this problem and reschedule the summit,” Ifediora said.

Ifediora noted similar problems at another conference earlier this year in which none of the invitees from Africa could obtain the necessary visas.