Global Report on Internal Displacement 2025

Regional Overviews

Sub-Saharan Africa (Part 5)

Floods, drought and storms trigger record displacement 
The number of disaster displacements in sub-Saharan Africa has increased over the past decade and reached a record 7.8 million in 2024. This is partly the result of more data being available, which also reveals that the phenomenon has a region-wide footprint. As in previous years, floods triggered most movements, accounting for 85 per cent of the total. Countries in west and central Africa were particularly affected. 
Several countries in the lake Chad basin recorded their highest number of flood displacements. Niger registered almost 1.2 million. The southern region of Maradi was the worst affected, with the destruction of more than 42,000 homes leading to 353,000 movements. Insecurity restricted humanitarian access, impeding IDPs’ recovery. Thousands sheltered in schools, delaying the start of the academic year.The response was further impeded by floodwaters that blocked roads between several cities and the capital, Niamey.

The extent of the emergency prompted the government to establish a National Committee for Floods and Disasters. Floods had destroyed more than 157,000 homes by the end of the year, and 480,000 people were living in displacement across the country. 

Cameroon recorded around 261,000 disaster displacements, the highest figure for the country. Most took place in the Far North region between July and October, where floods also led to a rise in food prices, putting an additional strain on people already displaced by conflict and violence. Taken together, conflict and disasters left nearly 1.1 million people living in displacement across the country as of the end of the year. 

The Horn of Africa was less affected by floods in 2024, leading to a drop in the number of disaster displacements in countries such as Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, which had previously reported high figures. Kenya was the most affected with 314,000 flood displacements, half of the figure for 2023. Most took place during the rainy season in April and May. Disasters left 185,000 people living in displacement in the country as of the end of the year. 

The 2024 rains across the wider Horn of Africa were insufficient to counter- balance the effects of years of drought, and the situation in many areas had not improved enough for IDPs to consider returning. As a result, disasters left nearly 757,000 people living in displacement in Ethiopia at the end of the year and more than 733,000 in Somalia. 

Southern Africa was affected by its worst drought in a century. Efforts were made to better monitor its impacts, including displacement, revealing 273,000 movements across Botswana, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. More than half, 152,000, were recorded in Zambia, notably in the Western, North-Western and Southern provinces. The lack of nationwide coverage suggests this is likely an underestimate.

The drought triggered 89,000 movements in neighbouring Zimbabwe. Rural to urban displacement, including to the capital, Harare, increased the need for shelter and put pressure on informal settlements. Host communities’ capacities were stretched by both the arrival of those newly displaced from rural areas and the fact that displacement from agricultural households contributed to food shortages.

The Southern region of Malawi, which was struck by cyclone Freddy in early 2023, recorded nearly 31,000 displacements associated with the 2024 drought. The same region was affected by flash flooding in mid-April, which triggered 9,000 movements as the country was dealing with a cholera epidemic and food insecurity.

The drought left nearly 23 million people facing acute food insecurity across the subregion, and will have devastating and long-lasting impacts on local development, particularly for rural households who rely on rain-fed agriculture. In May, the Southern African Development Community convened an extraordinary summit on the humanitarian situation resulting from the drought and floods, underscoring the need for increased investments in building resilience.

Southern Africa was also affected by storms and cyclones, which triggered 777,000 displacements. Cyclone Chido accounted for 678,000, 79 per cent of which took place in Mozambique, but other countries and territories were also affected. Chido brought torrential rains and winds of more than 200 km/h to the French overseas territory of Mayotte, where nearly 142,000 movements were recorded.

Early warnings were issued more than 50 hours in advance, but reports suggest they were not translated from French. The relative rarity of an event such as Chido in Mayotte also meant communities were not fully aware of or prepared for potential impacts. About 10,000 emergency shelter spaces were made available, but fear of deportation among undocumented residents contributed to relatively few people using them, leaving many with little access to services.

Densely populated informal urban settlements were also particularly hard hit by the storm because they were less equipped to resist the high winds and downpours it brought. Nearly 142,000 people were still displaced by Chido at the end of the year. This is a high figure relative to the island’s population of 321,000, which is conservative given there is a significant number of undocumented people.

Global Report on Internal Displacement 2025. Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. Norwegian Refugee Council. Geneva, Switzerland.