What's Happening in Open Mapping Across West and North Africa?

Stories of Local Mapping:

West and Northern Africa

Dear John,

Do you have your go-bag? If you’re thinking, “What’s that?” you’re not the only one. It’s basically a bag packed with essentials that you can grab if you need to leave home in an emergency, like a flood, for instance. What to put in a go bag? Find out with these practical guides from Pulse Nigeria and K24 Digital.

Having a bag ready to go is a simple but crucial concept that reminds us that being able to withstand disaster starts with feeling safe and prepared in our homes.

Sometimes the things that affect whether or not we feel safe start a long way from home. Take the recent forewarnings of El Niño’s effects in Africa, water warming up thousands of miles away that’s changing the temperatures and rainfall where we live. Changes that affect not just us, but crops and livestock as well.

Feeling like we know what to do to stay safe starts with information that is easy for everyone to understand, knowing when and how to respond, and having people, communities, and organizations we can turn to for help.

Lately, we’ve been exploring what it means to be prepared for climate-related disasters and be able to bounce back when they hit, in Ghana, with a pool of organizations; here’s what we’ve gathered so far:

How map data helps in understanding climate risks in Ghana

Photo: mapping what’s there to understand what’s at risk. A local mapper collecting data to assess flood exposure in croplands and built-up areas.

We all see every day how climate-related disasters are becoming more frequent and devastating. In Ghana, the most imminent threats are floods, droughts, and pest infestations, which are affecting people, livestock, and crops, which make up roughly 20% of Ghana’s GDP. This is why the government of Ghana set up a consortium of organizations, including HOT, to create flood and drought risk models in urban and coastal areas.

Our role in this is to work with communities to collect data on buildings, farmland, drainage, and roads to see what hazards affect them. Because knowing what’s at risk starts with knowing where things are and their context. Right now we’re working with locals to collect data on drainage points, which will help with understanding where water can escape. With this data, the model could predict where flood water could build up, how long fields will stay wet, and connect flooding to crop damage.

4 tips for dealing with the heat

1. Stay hydrated - Drink clean water regularly. The recommended daily intake is no less than 1.2 litres a day.

2. Stay out of the sun - Especially during peak hours (11 am - 4 pm, depending on where you live). And if you must be in the sun, wear light, airy clothing, and stay shielded using hats and sunscreen.

3. Stock up on food and conserve sources of water.

4. Check on family and friends, especially the elderly and kids.

After five years leading HOT’s Open Mapping Hub for West and North Africa, Dr Ibrahima Cissé says farewell and reflects on the communities behind the maps and the work it took to make them visible on it.

We are grateful to Ibrahima and his numerous contributions throughout this journey to ensure no one is left off the map.

As part of the Know Your City (KYC) Youth Innovation Project, young people in Bo, Tamale, Dakar, Jinja, Nairobi, Kafue and Blantyre now have four new courses to help them build practical mapping skills:

1. Introduction to Open Mapping

2. Create Interactive Maps

3. QGIS Fundamentals

4. Introduction to Drone Tasking Manager

Learners earn a certificate by showing practical work, such as accurate edits to OpenStreetMap.

Join the online launch on Thursday, 12th November (90 minutes, on Google Meet), to explore the courses and learn how to get started. Register by Wednesday 11th November.

The Open Mapping Awards – West and Northern Africa Hub is here!

This award recognizes the individuals and groups who are advancing open mapping across the region. The four categories are:

1. Open Mapping Impact Award (For groups/organizations only | Prize: $500): Recognizes teams that have used open mapping to address a clearly identified challenge, with real-world impact.

2. Open Mapping Innovation Award (For groups/organizations only | Prize: $300): Recognizes teams that have built meaningful open mapping solutions to address a challenge.

3. Community Champion Award (For individuals only | Prize: $200): Recognizes individuals who promote inclusive community building and open mapping.

4. Rising Star Award (For individuals only | Prize: $200): Recognizes emerging mappers who demonstrate exceptional growth, initiative, and potential to contribute to the open mapping community.

These awards celebrate not only how much we map, but also the quality of our contributions, the people we upbuild, and the positive change we help create through open mapping.

Deadline: 15th November 2026

Interesting reads

• The Missing Ingredient in Early Warning is People and Maps

• Open Data for Community-Based and Anticipatory Risk Management in Colombia

• Mapping Medellín's hillsides: how communities are putting themselves on the map to manage disaster risk

• The Baphalali Eswatini Red Cross Society acts to anticipate the impacts of a coming drought

• World Vision Malawi acts to anticipate the impacts of El Niño

Fostering partnerships among map contributors, supporters, and users will drive innovative solutions and bolster regional community resilience. We invite you to share your ideas and discuss how our technologies and open mapping can significantly boost ongoing efforts to tackle these challenges.
You can reach out to us via [email protected]

This newsletter was written and curated by Melodee Okigbo.

Ibrahim Fatai contributed as editor.