Global Conflict Surge in 2025: Africa Bears the Brunt of a Record 29 State-Based Conflicts
The Report
As reported by Africanews, the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) has released its annual “Conflict Trends” report, revealing that 2025 recorded the highest number of interstate conflicts globally since World War II. The report documents 65 conflicts involving at least one state in 2025, a new record since 1946. Africa remained the region most affected, accounting for 29 of these conflicts.
Eight interstate conflicts were recorded in 2025, double the number in 2024, marking an 80-year peak. These include border clashes between India and Pakistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and Cambodia and Thailand, as well as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Israeli military operations against Syria. The year 2025 was the third deadliest since the end of the Cold War, with approximately 245,000 deaths directly linked to combat or political violence. In Sudan, the siege and massacres in the city of El-Fasher, in the Darfur region, are believed to have killed around 60,000 people.
The report also highlights that the planet saw 65 conflicts involving at least one state in 2025, a new record since 1946. With 29 conflicts, Africa remained the region most affected by this type of confrontation.
WANA Regional Analysis
The PRIO report’s findings carry profound implications for West Africa, a sub-region already grappling with complex security challenges. While the report focuses on state-based conflicts, the 29 conflicts in Africa underscore a continent-wide trend of escalating political violence that directly impacts the ECOWAS region. The surge in interstate conflicts globally, doubling from four to eight in a single year, signals a breakdown in diplomatic norms and a normalization of armed confrontation that could embolden non-state actors and militant groups operating across West African borders.
From a regional security perspective, the data reinforces concerns about the Sahel’s instability. Although the report does not specify which African conflicts are included, the ongoing crisis in Sudan—with an estimated 60,000 deaths in El-Fasher alone—serves as a stark warning for West Africa. The Lake Chad Basin, the Liptako-Gourma region, and coastal states like Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, and Ghana face spillover risks from jihadist insurgencies that thrive in environments where state capacity is stretched by multiple concurrent conflicts. The record number of state-based conflicts globally suggests that international attention and peacekeeping resources may become further diluted, leaving West African nations to rely more heavily on regional mechanisms.
Economically, the 245,000 combat-related deaths in 2025 represent a catastrophic loss of human capital and productive capacity. For West Africa, where youth unemployment and informal economies dominate, each conflict diverts investment, disrupts trade corridors, and strains already fragile public services. The ECOWAS region’s agricultural supply chains, cross-border markets, and energy infrastructure are particularly vulnerable to the ripple effects of conflicts in neighboring regions, including the Sahel and Central Africa.
Diplomatically, the doubling of interstate conflicts challenges the effectiveness of multilateral institutions, including the African Union and ECOWAS. The report’s findings may prompt renewed calls for stronger conflict prevention mechanisms, early warning systems, and mediation frameworks within the region. However, the scale of the problem—65 state-based conflicts globally—suggests that even robust regional architectures may be overwhelmed without significant international support and political will.
Governance implications are equally significant. The record number of conflicts reflects a broader crisis of state legitimacy and institutional weakness. In West Africa, where several countries have experienced coups and constitutional crises in recent years, the PRIO data underscores the urgent need for inclusive governance, rule of law, and investment in conflict-sensitive development. Without addressing root causes such as inequality, resource competition, and political exclusion, the region risks becoming a permanent epicenter of global conflict.
Regional Backdrop
West Africa has historically been a region of both interstate and intrastate conflict, from the civil wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone in the 1990s to the ongoing Boko Haram insurgency in the Lake Chad Basin and the jihadist expansion in the Sahel. The ECOWAS Protocol on Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping and Security, established in 1999, was designed to address these challenges. However, the current global context—marked by great power competition, reduced peacekeeping budgets, and the rise of non-state armed groups—places unprecedented strain on regional mechanisms. The PRIO report’s finding that 2025 was the third deadliest year since the Cold War serves as a sobering reminder that without concerted action, the human and economic costs will continue to mount.
Original Reporting By:
Africanews