Africa-Press – Cape verde. Several African countries remain on the highest level of travel warnings issued by the United States, as the latest update from May 2026 maintains the level four warning of “Do Not Travel” for many globally hot regions.
Among 21 countries worldwide under the U.S. level four “Do Not Travel” warning, nine are located in Africa, indicating that the African continent accounts for nearly half of the most dangerous destinations.
The level four warning is the strongest travel advisory issued by the U.S. government, applied to places where conditions such as armed conflict, terrorism, violent crime, kidnapping, civil unrest, or weak infrastructure pose serious life-threatening risks. In many of these locations, consular assistance may be extremely limited or unavailable.
The affected countries include the Sahel, Central Africa, North Africa, and the Horn of Africa, which continue to face overlapping security and humanitarian crises.
Niger was added to the U.S. level four “Do Not Travel” recommendations list in January 2026, bringing the number of African countries under the highest level of U.S. travel warnings to eight at that time.
The advisory cited terrorism, kidnapping, violent crime, civil unrest, and weak emergency and healthcare capabilities as primary risks. Chad was later added in April 2026, reflecting growing concerns about the spread of regional insecurity, armed activity, and kidnapping risks along its borders.
Updates in 2026 largely confirmed existing level four ratings, including Burkina Faso, Mali, and Sudan, amid worsening insecurity linked to armed groups and political instability.
Libya, Somalia, South Sudan, and the Central African Republic remained unchanged, reflecting the ongoing long-term conflict and governance collapse in multiple areas.
Overall, the 2026 adjustments indicate a consolidation of high-risk areas in Africa rather than an expansion, particularly in the Sahel and the surrounding instability belt. Security analysts state that the concentration of affected countries reflects the widening instability belt extending from the Sahel through Central Africa to the Horn of Africa.
