The Ghana Institute of Governance and Security (GIGS) has welcomed the United Nations General Assembly’s adoption of the Equal Earth projection as a fairer alternative to the 16th-century Mercator map, describing the decision as a landmark step towards global justice and the restoration of Africa’s dignity.

In a statement signed by its Executive Director, Dr David Agbee, GIGS said the resolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on Friday, September 4, 2026, represented one of the most consequential steps taken by the global body in defence of Africa’s dignity.

The resolution, sponsored by Togo on behalf of the African Union and co-sponsored by the Bahamas, was adopted by 164 votes in favour to one against, with six abstentions by Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova, Serbia, and Ukraine. The United States cast the sole dissenting vote.

GIGS said the decision was particularly significant alongside this year’s General Assembly resolution recognising the Transatlantic Slave Trade as one of the gravest crimes against humanity.

The institute described the two resolutions as “two of the most consequential steps the United Nations has taken in defence of Africa’s dignity.”

‘A map is never neutral’

GIGS endorsed comments made by Togo’s Foreign Minister, Robert Dussey, ahead of the vote, when he told the General Assembly that “a fair world begins with a fair map” and that “a map is never neutral.”

According to the institute, maps are not simply passive representations of geographical features but can influence how societies perceive the world and their place within it.

“Maps are not passive renderings of geography; they are instruments of power,” the statement said.

It added that maps influence how children learn to see the world, how investors assess where opportunities lie, how diplomats perceive whose voice carries weight, and how people understand their own place and that of their continent in global affairs.

GIGS argued that a map that visually diminishes Africa, home to 1.4 billion people, could contribute to generations underestimating the continent’s size, resources, and global significance.

“A map that visually diminishes a continent of 1.4 billion people does not merely misinform. It conditions generations to underestimate Africa’s scale, its resources, and its significance,” it said.

GIGS highlights distortion under Mercator projection

The institute said the Mercator projection, designed in 1569 as a navigational aid for European sailors, had for more than four and a half centuries been "mistaken and mistaught as an accurate picture of the world.”

It said the projection inflates regions closer to the poles, including Europe, North America, and Greenland, while shrinking equatorial regions, particularly Africa.

GIGS highlighted the difference between the actual sizes of Africa and Greenland as an example of the distortion.

“The distortion is stark: Africa is, in reality, roughly fourteen times larger than Greenland, yet generations of atlases, classroom wall-maps, news broadcasts, and digital platforms have shown the two as nearly comparable in size,” the statement said.

The institute said the issue was not merely aesthetic, arguing that the misrepresentation operated through three reinforcing channels: visual shrinking through map projections, artificial colonial borders, and modern technological negligence.

Colonial borders and modern technology

On map projections, GIGS said decades of unquestioned use of Mercator-style maps in classrooms, newsrooms, and public institutions had helped normalise a diminished image of Africa in the global imagination.

It also pointed to what it described as “artificial colonial borders," saying boundaries drawn in European capitals with little regard for ethnic, cultural, and historical realities continued to have governance consequences across the continent.

The institute further criticised what it called “modern technological negligence," referring to outdated and distorting default projections incorporated into digital maps, search engines, and educational software.

According to GIGS, such technology risks carrying what it described as a colonial-era bias into new generations through modern tools.

“Correcting the map is therefore not a symbolic gesture,” it said.

“It is one deliberate step toward correcting the broader architecture of perception that has long under-represented Africa’s true scale and standing in the world.”

GIGS says vote reflects growing global consensus

GIGS said the overwhelming support for the resolution, with 164 member states voting in favour, reflected what it described as a growing global consensus that historical injustices embedded in ordinary tools should be deliberately addressed.

The institute also noted that France had announced ahead of the vote that it would abandon the Mercator projection in its own official maps.

It described the development as a signal that the issue was not solely an African concern.

“A signal that this reckoning belongs to the world, not to Africa alone,” GIGS said.

The institute, however, acknowledged that the resolution is not legally binding and does not prohibit continued use of the Mercator projection for technical purposes for which it remains suitable, including maritime and aerial navigation.

Instead, GIGS said the resolution represented a normative shift by encouraging governments, schools, media organisations, international organisations and technology companies to adopt equal-area projections such as Equal Earth in contexts where relative size and proportion are more important, particularly education and public communication.

Calls for adoption of Equal Earth projection

GIGS called on Ghanaian and African educational authorities to expedite the adoption of the Equal Earth projection in school curricula, textbooks, and teaching materials across the continent.

It also urged African governments and the African Union to sustain the momentum of the Correct the Map campaign and extend it to complementary reforms addressing the governance legacies of colonial-era borders.

The institute further called on global technology companies and media organisations to update default map settings across their platforms.

It said this would help ensure that the resolution adopted in New York translates into a different visual experience for the billions of people who use digital mapping tools daily.

GIGS also urged the international community to carry forward the spirit of the General Assembly’s resolutions on the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the world map as a basis for continued engagement with historical injustice.

GIGS commends campaigners

The institute expressed gratitude to the United Nations General Assembly, Togo’s leadership under Foreign Minister Robert Dussey, the African Union and the Bahamas for their roles in the adoption of the resolution.

It also acknowledged the advocacy organisations Africa No Filter and Speak Up Africa, crediting their sustained campaigning with helping to make the outcome possible.

“A fair world does indeed begin with a fair map,” GIGS said.

It added that Ghana was ready to play its part in ensuring that the change represented by the resolution went beyond the map itself.

“Ghana stands ready to play its part in ensuring that this correction on paper becomes a correction in perception, policy, and practice,” the statement concluded.