Africa has recorded the world's fastest improvements in disaster resilience, a new major global study has revealed. Research from Lloyd's Register Foundation shows that African regions have made the biggest gains in people's ability to withstand and recover from disasters and other major disruptions since 2023. North Africa, for instance, recorded a five-point increase in resilience, followed by Southern Africa with four points.
Eastern Africa and Central and Western Africa each improved by three points. Expanding internet access, better household preparedness, and improved financial resilience in countries including Kenya, Egypt, Uganda, Algeria, and Nigeria propelled the gains. The findings, however, expose a significant trial.
In Central and West Africa, few disaster-affected adults received any warning, raising questions about whether resilience improvements are translating into better protection for vulnerable communities. This is the outcome of the fourth edition of the World Risk Poll, which surveyed more than 143,000 people across 140 countries and territories in the year 2025. Conducted by Gallup, the study examines experiences of safety risks, including in countries where official data is limited.
Its Resilience Index measures people's ability to absorb and recover from major shocks on a scale of 0 to 100. The assessment covers four areas: individual resilience, household preparedness, community support and wider societal conditions. Increased internet access can help people obtain information about potential dangers, while household preparedness can improve their ability to respond when emergencies occur.
The researchers identified Algeria, Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, and Uganda as countries contributing to regional improvements, although the factors behind the gains varied. The findings, however, do not mean Africa has become the world's most resilient continent. Rather, its regions have recorded the fastest improvements over the period examined.
Despite the progress, the study discloses massive inequalities in access to potentially life-saving information. In Central and Western Africa, for instance, 47% of adults affected by disasters said they had received a warning. Globally, people in low-income countries were almost twice as likely to have experienced a disaster over the previous five years as those in high-income countries.
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