- During a State Department presentation at a global conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on July 26, 2026, a U.S. government map of Africa was shown with every country mislabeled.
- The U.S. unveiled a map of Africa that showed six countries and the U.S. investment for current Advancing Global Health Annual Program Statement (APS) funding.
- The map incorrectly placed Nigeria in the Sahara Desert, Mozambique in the eastern Horn of Africa, and the Ivory Coast away from the coast.
- The State Department has taken 'full responsibility' for the errors in the map that mislabels every country in Africa.
The U.S. State Department faced backlash after a map presented at a global conference in Rio de Janeiro on July 26, 2026, mislabelled every African country. The map, intended to showcase U.S. investment in health initiatives, inaccurately placed Nigeria in the Sahara Desert and relocated Mozambique to the eastern Horn of Africa.13
The State Department described the incident as a "confusion" and accepted full responsibility for the error. Audience members reported that the map was altered by a team member just before the presentation, raising questions about the approval process.
Matt Petit from The Atlantic Council criticized the oversight, stating, “Whoever created and approved this slide did not know where countries in Africa are and did not care to check their work.” The incident highlights the importance of accuracy in international presentations, especially when discussing significant investments in global health.
The U.S. had unveiled the map to illustrate funding for the current Advancing Global Health Annual Program Statement (APS), but the glaring inaccuracies overshadowed the intended message, prompting calls for better vetting of materials used in official presentations.2
“During a State Department presentation at a global conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on July 26, 2026, a U.S. government map of Africa was shown with every country mislabeled. The map incorrectly placed Nigeria in the Sahara Desert, Mozambique in the eastern Horn of Africa, and the Ivory Coast away from the coast.”
