Research environment · Country dashboards
Country dashboards for all 54 African states
One dashboard per country, each in the same structure: the threat level and the direction the picture is moving, the drivers behind it, the indicators worth watching, the actors whose behaviour matters, and the public sources the reading rests on.
Every judgement on these dashboards is an analyst reading of public reporting. Direction of travel is a judgement, not a measurement. Nothing here is live monitoring: the picture is refreshed when the desk reviews the country, and the review date is shown.
Horn of Africa
Somalia
The security picture is set by an armed opposition that still reaches into Mogadishu and regional capitals, a security transition handing districts to forces whose hold is uneven, and federal-member-state politics that periodically turn into armed standoff. Movement risk is concentrated on the arterial roads between government-held towns rather than inside them.
Open dashboardEthiopia
Violence has moved from a single northern conflict to several regional insurgencies running at once, with Amhara and Oromia both producing road ambush, abduction and administrative closure. National politics, a contested post-war settlement in Tigray and economic strain interact, and movement outside the capital is the practical constraint on most programmes.
Open dashboardSudan
An active war between two conventional forces, with urban artillery and air strikes, mass displacement, siege conditions in parts of Darfur and Kordofan, and a collapsed banking and supply environment. This is not a country-risk problem so much as a war environment: presence decisions, not mitigation measures, carry most of the risk.
Open dashboardEritrea
A tightly controlled state with low reported crime and violence, and a risk profile driven by the state itself: movement permits, restrictions on independent activity, national service obligations and the consequences of regional alignment rather than by armed groups or criminality.
Open dashboardDjibouti
A stable, tightly policed state whose risk profile is external and maritime rather than internal: Red Sea attacks on shipping, the foreign military presence, and spillover from Ethiopia's internal conflicts along the corridor that carries most Ethiopian trade.
Open dashboardEast Africa
South Sudan
A national settlement that has repeatedly deferred elections, subnational armed violence largely disconnected from national politics, and an oil-dependent economy exposed to the war in Sudan. Risk to staff is dominated by armed criminality, roadblocks and localised cattle and land conflict, punctuated by political crises in Juba.
Open dashboardKenya
A functioning state with real capability, where risk is concentrated geographically and episodically: Al-Shabaab attacks and IED use in the north-east and coastal counties, banditry in the north-west, and protest policing in Nairobi and other cities that can turn lethal within a day of a political trigger.
Open dashboardUganda
A generally stable operating environment with two live problems: ADF attacks and device use associated with the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and a political environment around national elections in which opposition activity is policed hard.
Open dashboardTanzania
The most settled major operating environment in the region. Risk is dominated by crime, road traffic and natural hazard rather than political violence, with a residual concern about extremist activity in the far south near the Mozambican border and periodic tightening of political space around elections.
Open dashboardRwanda
A low-crime, tightly administered environment where internal risk to staff is minimal and the material risk is external: the relationship with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the M23 conflict across the border, and the constraints of operating in a state that closely manages information and civic activity.
Open dashboardBurundi
A poor, tightly controlled state with a history of political violence, where risk comes from state and party-aligned actors, grenade and small-arms incidents, and the country's entanglement in the eastern Congo conflict, against a background of severe fuel and foreign-currency shortage.
Open dashboardNorth Africa
Algeria
A strong internal security apparatus keeps the northern cities stable, while the long southern borders with Mali, Niger and Libya remain exposed to armed groups and smuggling.
Open dashboardEgypt
A broadly stable state with heavy security presence; the North Sinai insurgency is largely contained, while Red Sea shipping disruption and Sudan's war shape the external picture.
Open dashboardLibya
Divided governance between Tripoli and the east, a dense armed-group landscape and fragile infrastructure mean clashes can erupt in the capital with little notice.
Open dashboardMorocco
One of the continent's most stable operating environments; terrorism risk is managed by capable services and Western Sahara remains a diplomatic, not a daily security, issue.
Open dashboardTunisia
Political consolidation under President Saied and economic strain sit alongside a contained but persistent jihadist threat in the western mountains.
Open dashboardWestern Sahara
A disputed territory under Moroccan administration where the 1991 ceasefire broke down in 2020; low-level exchanges continue along the berm.
Open dashboardSahel
Burkina Faso
Junta rule and a contest with JNIM and Islamic State Sahel across large parts of the country; towns under blockade and attacks on civilians and forces are frequent.
Open dashboardChad
Transitional politics after 2021, Boko Haram and ISWAP in the Lake Chad basin and the arrival of refugees from Sudan's war drive a complex picture.
Open dashboardMali
A junta-led state facing JNIM blockades and Islamic State Sahel violence, after the departure of UN and French forces and the arrival of Russian-backed forces.
Open dashboardMauritania
A Sahelian state that has largely insulated itself from jihadist violence, though the Malian border and refugee flows at Mbera remain pressure points.
Open dashboardNiger
After the 2023 coup, JNIM and Islamic State Sahel remain active in the tri-border area and the south-west, and humanitarian access depends on the authorities.
Open dashboardWest Africa
Benin
The northern park belt bordering Burkina Faso and Niger is increasingly contested by JNIM, while the coastal south remains stable.
Open dashboardCabo Verde
A stable island democracy; the main issues are drug-transit crime and petty theft.
Open dashboardCôte d'Ivoire
A regional economic engine with a permissive Abidjan, exposed in the north to spillover from Burkina Faso and Mali.
Open dashboardGambia
A small, stable state continuing post-Jammeh democratic consolidation.
Open dashboardGhana
A traditionally stable democracy whose northern border regions face growing pressure from Sahel insecurity and local chieftaincy conflicts.
Open dashboardGuinea
A junta-led transition with political demonstrations in Conakry and an active mining sector.
Open dashboardGuinea-Bissau
A history of coups and drug-transit vulnerability; the physical threat to visitors is low outside political flashpoints.
Open dashboardLiberia
Post-war and post-Ebola recovery on track; urban crime is the main daily concern.
Open dashboardNigeria
The continent's largest country faces several threats at once: Boko Haram and ISWAP in the north-east, banditry and mass kidnapping in the north-west, separatist violence in the south-east and crime in the Gulf of Guinea.
Open dashboardSenegal
Historically one of the region's most stable democracies; political tension flares periodically in Dakar and Casamance remains largely quiet.
Open dashboardSierra Leone
Post-conflict recovery is consolidated; politics is competitive, with sporadic protest and a November 2023 attack in Freetown.
Open dashboardTogo
A small coastal state with a growing JNIM threat in the northern Savanes region and exposure to Gulf of Guinea maritime risk.
Open dashboardCentral Africa
Angola
A broadly stable state with economic strain, urban crime in Luanda and a separatist issue in the Cabinda enclave.
Open dashboardCameroon
Three crises at once: the Anglophone conflict in the North-West and South-West, Boko Haram in the Far North and refugee pressure in the east; the main cities are largely calm.
Open dashboardCentral African Republic
Armed groups control or contest much of the interior, while Bangui is comparatively secure under UN and Russian-backed forces.
Open dashboardCongo
A relatively stable urban environment; earlier flashpoints in the Pool department have subsided.
Open dashboardDR Congo
A vast state where the M23 offensive, ADF violence and over a hundred armed groups drive conflict in the east, while Kinshasa is a very different environment.
Open dashboardEquatorial Guinea
A highly centralised political system with little internal violence but high administrative and reputational risk.
Open dashboardGabon
A broadly stable environment after the 2023 transition, centred on Libreville and Port-Gentil.
Open dashboardSao Tome and Principe
A small island state with few internal security concerns; Gulf of Guinea maritime activity is the main exposure.
Open dashboardSouthern Africa
Botswana
One of Africa's most stable democracies, with a peaceful transfer of power in 2024; the risks are mainly crime and road safety.
Open dashboardEswatini
An absolute monarchy where pro-democracy unrest erupted in 2021; the situation is calmer but grievances remain.
Open dashboardLesotho
Political volatility and high levels of violent crime, including gang violence linked to illegal mining.
Open dashboardMalawi
Politically stable; the main risks are weather-driven, such as flooding and cyclones, plus economic strain.
Open dashboardMozambique
An Islamic State-linked insurgency persists in Cabo Delgado, post-election unrest in 2024–25 was deadly, and the coast is highly exposed to cyclones.
Open dashboardNamibia
A stable democracy; opportunistic crime and long-distance road travel are the main concerns.
Open dashboardSouth Africa
A strong institutional democracy with very high rates of violent crime, infrastructure strain and occasional unrest such as July 2021.
Open dashboardZambia
A stable democracy facing debt strain and drought-driven power cuts.
Open dashboardZimbabwe
A politically controlled environment with economic volatility, currency instability and restrictions on civil society.
Open dashboardIndian Ocean
Comoros
A small island state with a history of coups and political tension, and exposure to cyclones.
Open dashboardMadagascar
Political instability, crime and cattle-raiding banditry in the south, plus severe cyclone exposure; protests in late 2025 led to a military takeover.
Open dashboardMauritius
A stable, prosperous democracy; risks are mainly petty crime and cyclones.
Open dashboardSeychelles
A stable island state; Somali piracy in the wider Indian Ocean is the main regional maritime concern.
Open dashboard