Africa: Correcting Africa's Map Won't Bring Prosperity - Moghalu

What the report says

Kingsley Moghalu, the former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, has backed a United Nations move encouraging more accurate world maps of Africa, while arguing that changing maps alone will not deliver economic progress. According to Vanguard, which AllAfrica distributed, he made the comments in a post on X after the UN General Assembly approved a “Correct the Map” resolution with broad support, backed by the African Union and led by Togo on behalf of the African Group.

The resolution urges schools, governments, international organisations and technology companies to use equal-area projections such as Equal Earth instead of the long-used Mercator map, which magnifies land near the poles and reduces the apparent size of places near the equator. Moghalu said the measure is not legally binding, does not affect navigation, and does not change borders. He also said the issue matters because maps shape how people understand Africa’s place in the world.

At the same time, Moghalu warned against treating improved cartography as a substitute for real development. He said Africa’s challenge is institutional and economic, not just visual, and pointed to the need for productivity, skills, governance, planning and a shared sense of purpose. He cited Asian economies including China, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam as examples of countries that advanced through education, industrial capacity and long-term strategy rather than symbolism.

His remarks place the UN vote in a wider debate about perception and policy: a fairer map may help restore dignity and correct misconceptions about Africa’s size, but, Moghalu argued, prosperity will depend on reforms inside African states.