Moghalu Welcomes UN Push to ‘Correct’ Africa Map

Falaye Tomiwa

September 7, 2026
3 min read
Kingsley Moghalu

Former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Kingsley Moghalu, has welcomed a United Nations resolution backing the use of world maps that more accurately represent Africa’s size, saying the move could help address longstanding distortions in how the continent is portrayed.

Moghalu, however, cautioned that correcting the map alone would not translate into economic prosperity for Africa, stressing that the continent’s development challenges require deeper structural solutions.

The former CBN official made the remarks in a post on X on Sunday while reacting to the reported adoption of the “Correct the Map” resolution by the UN General Assembly.

According to Moghalu, the resolution was supported by 164 countries, with one country voting against it. The initiative was introduced by Togo on behalf of the African Group and received backing from the African Union.

The resolution encourages schools, governments, international organisations and technology platforms to adopt equal-area map projections that represent the relative sizes of countries more accurately.

Among the recommended alternatives is the Equal Earth projection, which is designed to preserve the relative areas of regions and countries more faithfully than the widely used Mercator projection.

The Mercator map has long been criticised for significantly distorting the apparent size of countries and continents, particularly those located closer to the poles.

Under the projection, Africa can appear considerably smaller than its actual landmass when compared visually with regions such as Europe and North America.

The issue has generated renewed debate over the way geographical information is presented in classrooms, digital platforms and other public spaces.

For Moghalu, however, the significance of the UN resolution should not be overstated.

He welcomed the decision but pointed out that a more accurate geographical representation of Africa would not, by itself, solve the continent’s economic problems.

The economist’s position reflects a broader argument that while correcting geographical misconceptions can improve public understanding of Africa, tangible development will depend on improvements in governance, institutions, infrastructure, education, industrialisation and economic productivity.

The adoption of the resolution represents a symbolic step towards changing how Africa is visually represented around the world.

It also places greater emphasis on the responsibility of governments, educational institutions and technology companies to ensure that maps used by the public do not create misleading impressions about the relative size of different regions.

The development is expected to encourage wider adoption of equal-area projections, potentially changing the maps encountered by students and users of digital platforms.

For Africa, the debate over map representation has increasingly become part of a wider conversation about correcting misconceptions about the continent while pursuing practical measures capable of improving living standards and economic opportunities.