US State Department admits ‘unfortunate error’ over Africa map at HIV conference
The US State Department has acknowledged what it described as an “unfortunate error” after a presentation at an HIV conference featured a map of Africa with significant geographical inaccuracies, including placing Ivory Coast in East Africa and depicting Nigeria as a landlocked country.
According to BBC News, the mislabelled map appeared in slides shown during a State Department-hosted session at an international HIV/AIDS conference. The presentation placed Ivory Coast — officially the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire — in East Africa, rather than on the West African coast. The country’s official capital is Yamoussoukro, and its largest city, Abidjan, sits on the Atlantic shoreline of the Gulf of Guinea. Côte d’Ivoire is one of the world’s leading cocoa producers and a longstanding partner in US-funded health programmes on the continent.
The same map showed Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, without any coastline, despite the country’s well-known Atlantic seaboard on the Gulf of Guinea. Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos, sits on the coast, and the country’s maritime zone underpins a substantial oil industry and regional trade network. Screenshots of the map circulated widely on social media, drawing criticism and ridicule.
A State Department spokesperson acknowledged the mistake as an “unfortunate error,” saying the presentation did not reflect the department’s understanding of African geography. The United States remains one of the largest bilateral donors to HIV/AIDS programmes in sub-Saharan Africa, primarily through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR, which has channelled billions of dollars into treatment and prevention since its launch in the early 2000s.
The episode has drawn attention to how basic cartographic mistakes in official presentations can undermine diplomatic messaging, particularly in forums where US engagement with African health systems is a central focus.
Sources
This report was written from coverage published by the following news organisations. Follow the links for the original reporting.
