The U.S. Government apologizes for using a map of Africa with the countries misplaced

The U.S. government apologized this Thursday for having used a map of Africa in which several countries appeared incorrectly located during an international conference held in Brazil.

“We take full responsibility for the confusion and misinformation this caused among attendees, including our African partners,” a State Department spokesperson told the press.

The events took place this week during one of the presentations at the 26th International AIDS Conference, which is being held in Rio de Janeiro between July 26 and 31.

The map of Africa projected by the U.S.

United States representatives projected a map of Africa regarding investment opportunities that erroneously labeled Nigeria as a landlocked country, placed Mozambique in the Horn of Africa, and positioned Ivory Coast in the southwest of the continent.

The presentation caused a huge stir among the attendees, who took photographs of the slide and shared them on social media.

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“This was an unfortunate error caused by a team member who hastily modified the presentation just before the 2026 AIDS Conference,” noted the State Department spokesperson.

Trump’s relationship with Africa

The same source stated that the Donald Trump Administration is “pleased” by the attendance at the conference of high-level delegations from several African countries, whose participation was “substantial and constructive.”

The Department, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, claimed that the United States is combating HIV and has allocated more than $24 billion in new funding for health programs.

The foreign aid cuts pushed last year by the Trump Administration generated concern among humanitarian organizations around the world, especially due to their potential impact on HIV prevention and treatment programs in Africa.