By Abdulkareem Haruna

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria — Africa is now home to more than 50 active armed conflicts, a sharp 45 percent increase since 2020 that has left an estimated 35 million people displaced across the continent.

​According to recent data from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Africa now accounts for roughly 40 percent of the world’s global clashes. The humanitarian crisis is being driven by a volatile mix of resource competition, failing governance, and climate change—forces that have turned the Sahel, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo into the world’s most dangerous hotspots.

​Nigeria remains a primary theater for this violence. The country is currently fighting on at least three major fronts: a long-running insurgency by Boko Haram and ISWAP, widespread banditry, and escalating clashes between herders and farmers. While official reports often focus on specific regions, internal data suggests the country is managing more than five distinct zones of armed hostility.

​Patrick Youssef, the ICRC’s Director General for Africa, warned that the scale of the violence is stretching humanitarian resources to their limits.

​”In Sudan, my colleagues provide emergency care and help people reconnect with missing relatives as they flee active fighting,” Youssef said in a recent briefing. He noted that in South Sudan, surgical teams have treated more than 1,000 patients with weapon-related wounds—the highest figure the organization has recorded in eight years.

​The crisis is equally acute in Central Africa. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the ICRC recently facilitated the movement of more than 1,000 disarmed soldiers and police officers, along with their families, a move aimed at de-escalating local tensions.

​”Across the Sahel and in Somalia, we are supporting communities struggling with the triple threat of conflict, climate shocks, and endless years of violence,” Youssef said.

​The surge in violence comes as the continent enters 2026, with the ICRC pledging to “redouble” its life-saving operations to meet the growing demand for aid. However, with 40 percent of the world’s conflicts now concentrated in Africa, experts warn that humanitarian intervention alone cannot solve a crisis rooted in deep-seated political and environmental instability.