Nigeria

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Military & Security

The United States has reportedly delivered critical military equipment to Nigeria to support its fight against multiple security threats across the country, Bloomberg reported on Jan. 13.

Nigeria: U.S. Delivers Military Equipment To Strengthen Nigeria's Security Capabilities

United Arab Emirates

Economics

Environment, Science & Technology

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Science & Technology

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu unveiled plans to mobilize $2 billion for the country's National Climate Change Fund and $500 million for climate-resilient infrastructure at the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week summit, Reuters reported on Jan. 13.

Nigeria: President Tinubu Unveils $2B Climate Fund, Economic Partnership With Abu Dhabi

U.S. President Donald Trump said in an interview with The New York Times on Jan. 8 that while he would "love" for recent U.S. military action in Nigeria to be a "one-time strike," it would be a "many-time strike" if more Christians were killed in the country.

Nigeria: Trump Hints at More U.S. Strikes if More Christians Are Killed

The United Arab Emirates will provide $1.2 billion to build a section of the proposed 700 kilometer (435 mile) Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, the Nigerian presidency said on Dec. 26. 

Nigeria: Government Secures $1.2B in Funding for $12B Coastal Highway Megaproject

The United States carried out strikes in Nigeria's Sokoto state, killing multiple members of the Islamic State in coordination with Nigerian authorities, United States Africa Command said in a press release on Dec. 25. 

U.S.: Washington Carries Out Strikes in Northwestern Nigeria Targeting Islamic State

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu presented the 58.18 trillion naira ($40 billion) budget for 2026 to a joint session of the National Assembly, with 5.41 trillion naira for defense and internal security, the single largest sectoral allocation, 6.0 trillion naira for education and health care, and 3.52 trillion naira for infrastructure, The Punch reported on Dec. 19.

Nigeria: Tinubu Presents 2026 Budget to National Assembly

Italy

Nigeria will soon receive 24 M-346FA light fighter aircraft and 10 AW109 helicopters from Italian defense company Leonardo for $1.2 billion, Business Insider reported on Dec. 16.

Nigeria: Abuja Nears Delivery of New Italian Fighter Jets, Helicopters Amid Modernization Drive

Nigeria's ruling All Peoples' Congress party, or APC, formally registered Rivers Governor Siminalayi Fubara as a party member, Daily Post reported on Dec. 12.

Nigeria: Rivers Governor Formally Registers as APC Member After Defecting From Opposition

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Structures destroyed in U.S. strikes on jihadist targets in Offa, Nigeria, are seen on Dec. 27, 2025.

New U.S. military action would most likely target jihadist groups, especially in West Africa, but limited strikes in Sudan or the Democratic Republic of the Congo to force belligerents there to de-escalate also cannot be ruled out.

The Outlook for New U.S. Strikes in Africa

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RANE's Top 10 Risks for 2026 highlights high-impact, low-probability risks and trends from the annual forecast presented in more extreme terms.

RANE's Top 10 Risks for 2026

Madagascar

Rwanda

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Flight routes.

As 2026 approaches, we look back at the previous year and consider the top five patterns and trends as measured by geopolitical impact.

2025: A Geopolitical Review

France

A photo taken on Dec. 8, 2025, shows an armored vehicle at the entrance of a blocked road in Cotonou, Benin, near the headquarters of the state broadcaster Benin TV.

The coup attempt will increase political and security risks ahead of Benin's 2026 elections, while the swift, Nigeria-led ECOWAS intervention suggests Abuja is assuming a more assertive regional role with tacit French backing following Paris's troop drawdown.

Benin's Foiled Coup Signals Strengthening Franco-Nigerian Coordination in West Africa

A Nigerian soldier stands guard at a checkpoint at the entrance to Monguno, Borno state, Nigeria, on July 4, 2025. 

Trump wants Nigeria to take action against the armed groups targeting Christians in the country, but Abuja will face challenges in sustaining such operations, which could lead to unilateral U.S. military action if there are fresh instances of intercommunal violence.

Will the United States Take Military Action in Nigeria?

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Fire rages through the Singha Durbar, the main administrative building for the Nepal government, in Kathmandu on Sept. 9, 2025, after youth protesters set fire to the building. 

Recent events in Nepal, Madagascar and elsewhere show how digitally coordinated, leaderless protests can succeed, but eventually face even larger challenges in sustaining the momentum for change.

Worldwide Gen Z Protesters May Be Disappointed With Their Success

Chad

Nigerian soldiers from the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) drive in pick-ups during training at the Sector 3 MNJTF military base headquarters in Monguno, Borno state, Nigeria, on July 5, 2025. 

War, Insurgency & Terrorism

Armed groups will continue to expand across Nigeria as the government struggles with domestic constraints and limits on regional security cooperation.

In Nigeria, Security Forces Struggle To Address Growing Militancy

A worker inspects an oil drilling platform located roughly 35 kilometers away from Port Harcourt in the Niger Delta. 

Energy

The recent drop in global oil prices risks exacerbating Nigeria's already high inflation, which would ripen socioeconomic conditions for protests and threaten to fuel recruitment by jihadist and bandit groups.

Can Nigeria Navigate Lower Oil Prices? 

On Geopolitics

Cameroon

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A Gabonese brigade participates in a training exercise as part of a military program linked to the Franco-Gabonese partnership at the French military base Camp de Gaulle in Libreville on March 19, 2025. 

France's reduced influence in Africa will create space for local and foreign actors to take on greater leadership roles, but their inability to fill the security vacuum left by France's withdrawal would threaten to destabilize the region.

France, Africa and the Future, Part 2: The Age of Multi-Alignment 

Angola

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World map on a dark digital background representing global communication and global finances.

RANE's Top 10 Risks for 2025 highlights high-impact, low-probability risks and trends from the annual forecast presented in more extreme terms.

RANE's Top 10 Risks for 2025

The Geopolitics of Water

Environmental conditions in the Sahel are likely to worsen due to desertification, rapid population growth and political instability. 

The Geopolitics of Water: The Role of Desertification in Conflict in the Sahel

Uganda

United Kingdom

A motorcyclist looks at his phone in front of a National Electoral Council poster promoting the upcoming presidential election in Caracas, Venezuela, on July 23, 2024.

Global Elections

A look at what the coming week will bring -- and a list of recommended RANE articles from the week that was.

The Weekly Rundown: An Election in Venezuela, Economic Reforms in the U.K.

The West African country of Nigeria is bordered by Benin, Niger, Chad, Cameroon and the Gulf of Guinea. Nigeria gained its independence from Great Britain in 1960.    A series of mountains form the country's eastern border. Two rivers, the Niger and the Benue, effectively form a boundary between northern, southwestern and southeastern Nigeria. The northern half of the country is largely savannah grassland supportive of pastoral agriculture. Highlands in the south produce cash crops like oil palms and rubber.    Most of Nigeria's regions have arable lands that allow the country to support Africa's largest population of 150 million people. Each region has a dominant ethnic group. The Hausa-Fulani are based in the north, the Yoruba in the southwest and the Igbo in the southeast. These and more than 250 other ethnicities all vie for control over the Niger Delta region because of its abundant reserves of oil and natural gas. The Niger Delta region itself is home to the Ijaw people who have exerted disproportionate influence over the country's politics as seen with the election of Goodluck Jonathan as president in 2011. Nigeria's capital, Abuja, was intentionally located in the country's center to promote its neutrality.     Managing the competition for natural resources between these ethnically divided regions is Nigeria's primary geographic challenge.    Looking ahead, Nigeria will have to settle its internal ethnic division and astutely manage its oil revenue to deal with its projected population of 390 million people by 2050.

Nigeria: Obstacles to Prosperity

A Crude Recovery

The Jihadist Wars

The Suitors of Sub-Saharan Africa

SITUATION REPORTS

Nigeria: U.S. Delivers Military Equipment To Strengthen Nigeria's Security Capabilities

Nigeria: President Tinubu Unveils $2B Climate Fund, Economic Partnership With Abu Dhabi

Nigeria: Trump Hints at More U.S. Strikes if More Christians Are Killed

Nigeria: Government Secures $1.2B in Funding for $12B Coastal Highway Megaproject

U.S.: Washington Carries Out Strikes in Northwestern Nigeria Targeting Islamic State

Nigeria: Tinubu Presents 2026 Budget to National Assembly

Nigeria: Abuja Nears Delivery of New Italian Fighter Jets, Helicopters Amid Modernization Drive

Nigeria: Rivers Governor Formally Registers as APC Member After Defecting From Opposition

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