Of the estimated 45 million Africans who are forcibly displaced more than 75% reside in their home country, and of those who aren’t, over 95% reside on the continent. 

Tragically, the number of forcibly displaced Africans continues to steadily rise. It has increased each year for more than a dozen consecutive years. In fact, it has doubled since 2018, with more than 45 million people currently forcibly displaced.  

However, contrary to what many assume, only a small percentage of these Africans are making their way to Europe. Of the 45 million Africans who the United Nations refugee agency said were displaced as of the middle of last year, more than three-quarters are internally displaced persons, or IDPs, as they’re commonly known. They are no longer in their home communities but still reside within their country of origin. The US-based Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS) estimates the number of African IDPs has nearly tripled since 2017, and increased by nearly 2 million during the first part of 2024. A recent escalation of fighting in Sudan’s civil war has created the “largest internally displaced population ever reported,” according to the UN. It comes as no surprise, then, that Africans comprise nearly half of all the world’s internally displaced people, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center.

Of the millions of displaced Africans who do flee their home country, the overwhelming majority don’t leave the continent but instead move to areas they view as safer or with more economic opportunity. According to the Institute for Security Studies, in mid-2024, there were approximately 8.9 million African refugees and 1.1 million African asylum seekers. According to ACSS, as many as 98% of the displaced are choosing to stay on the African continent, bringing regional strain.

Why does all this matter?

For one thing, many of the African countries which are hosting large IDP and refugee communities are among the least financially capable on the continent. Unfortunately, this trend isn’t unique to Africa. More than 70% of the world’s refugees are hosted in low-to-middle income countries. In the case of Somalia, which was hosting more than 3 million IDPs as of 2020, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center estimated that the economic burden to that low-income country was roughly $1.1 billion, or 23.6% of its GDP. In Africa, Uganda currently hosts the largest numbers of IDPs and refugees, with approximately 1.7 million people seeking refuge in the country.  

Secondly, when people are displaced from their homes, whether it be within their country or to somewhere else, they tend to be displaced for extended periods—often decades. Studies suggest that the average IDP is  displaced for more than 10 years, and the average refugee, for 20 years. Since 40% of displaced people are children—according to UN data—this also suggests that many parts of the world may be at risk of losing an entire generation of their people. Children in displaced settings rarely have adequate access to vital services like proper nutrition, health (including mental health), and education.  They grow up disconnected from the world around them and ill-prepared to become productive adults.  

So many of us have argued that “this is Africa’s moment.” But can that moment be everything that Africa hopes for—everything that we hope for—with forced displacement touching so many parts of the continent? The treasure of Africa’s critical minerals is a hot global topic, but what about the treasure of human talent and potential that is slipping away? It’s time we talked about that.  

This blog was researched and drafted with assistance from Chelsea Acheampong.