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Today in Africa — August 19, 2026: Liberia to Take In 1,200 U.S. Deportees, South Sudan Aid Worker Killings Surge

OkayAfrica has scoured the Internet for today’s major news stories, so you don't have to. On Aug. 19, coverage includes: Liberia's deal with Washington coming as several other African nations accept similar third-country deportees; violence against humanitarian workers in South Sudan already outpacing last year's total in just seven months.

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Lihle Z. Mtshali Today in Africa & Newsletter Editor
U.S. Customs and Border Protection security agents guide deportees on board a plane.
Liberia joins DR Congo, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Ghana, and Sierra Leone in accepting third-country deportees from the U.S.

Every day, OkayAfrica shares a roundup of news we’re following but haven’t published as full articles. These short updates cover what’s happening across the continent — in culture, politics, and beyond. For more on stories like these, be sure to check out our News page, with stories from across the regions.

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Liberia to Accept Up to 1,200 U.S. Deportees Over Next Year

Liberia has agreed to accept up to 1,200 third-country deportees from the U.S. over the next 12 months, with the first group of 20 set to arrive tomorrow, Thursday, August 20, the government said yesterday, Tuesday, August 18. The deportees, who will include nationals from African and Western Hemisphere countries deemed medically fit to travel, are people the U.S. cannot legally send back to their home countries, often because immigration judges found they'd face torture or abuse there. Liberia says it will receive the deportees "as guests," free to leave or apply for asylum, and insists the arrangement isn't a quid pro quo with Washington, though it will get unspecified "support" to manage migration.

How Liberia Fits the Bigger Picture

  • The Trump administration has struck similar third-country deportation deals with other African nations, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Ghana, and Sierra Leone.

  • Rights groups say the deals lack transparency and that many deportees end up being repatriated anyway, despite Washington defending the arrangements as lawful.

  • Liberia's statement pointed to the country's history as a refuge for freed American slaves and its long track record of taking in people fleeing crises elsewhere.

  • President Joseph Boakai was among five West African leaders who met with Trump at the White House last year, where he reportedly pressed them to accept deportees.

South Sudan Aid Worker Deaths Surpass 2025 Total in Just Seven Months

At least 36 humanitarian workers and contractors have been killed in South Sudan since January, already surpassing the 31 killed in all of 2025, the United Nations' humanitarian coordinator said today, Wednesday, August 19. More than 450 incidents of violence against aid workers and assets were reported between January and July, more than double the same period last year, as renewed fighting between government and opposition forces led aid groups to pull out of some areas, cutting off access to vulnerable communities. Around 10 million people in South Sudan are expected to need humanitarian assistance this year, including more than 7.5 million facing severe food insecurity.

A Global Pattern of Violence

  • Worldwide, 907 aid workers were killed, injured, or kidnapped in 2025, up from 833 the year before, with UN Secretary-General António Guterres calling the trend "appalling."

  • UN aid chief Tom Fletcher pointed to the spread of cheap, adaptable armed drones as a growing danger, citing March drone strikes in Goma, DR Congo, that killed at least three people, including a French aid worker.

  • Gaza remained the deadliest place for humanitarians in 2025, with 186 killed there, followed by Sudan.

  • More than 650,000 refugees and asylum seekers in South Sudan risk losing food and nutrition assistance due to severe funding shortages, the UN refugee agency and World Food Program warned last week.

Ebola's Spread Threatens DR Congo's Gold Mining Towns as Miners Move Undetected

The Democratic Republic of Congo's Ebola outbreak, already the fastest-growing in history, is concentrated in Ituri province, where hundreds of people, including children, work at artisanal gold mines under conditions that make containment nearly impossible. Miners like 11-year-old Isaac Batisa travel constantly between mining sites in search of work, often for as little as $2 a day, and health workers say no reliable system registers or tracks them, letting the virus potentially spread to new communities before monitoring teams catch on. Nearly 5,000 people have been infected, and 2,325 have died so far, with Ituri accounting for nearly 90% of cases, and the outbreak is on track to become history's deadliest if it passes the 2014-2016 West Africa outbreak's toll of over 11,000 deaths.

Why the Mines Make Containment So Hard

  • Basic prevention measures like handwashing and social distancing aren't followed at the sites, where miners use hand tools to dig through pits and tunnels, sometimes dozens of meters underground.

  • Health workers recently lost track of two miners identified as Ebola contacts after they moved to another site and vanished.

  • About 2 million people work in artisanal and small-scale mining across DR Congo, and UNICEF estimates 15% of Congolese children ages 5 to 17 are engaged in child labor.

  • Ebola has been reported along a travel route about 35 kilometers from DR Congo's border with South Sudan, raising concern about the outbreak's spread.

  • Batisa said his parents and two brothers were killed in a rebel attack, and he now works at the mine at his aunt's encouragement to help support his remaining family.

In Brief: More Stories Today

Seven Killed in Kenya Helicopter Crash Near Samburu National Reserve

Seven people, including a pilot and six tourists, died Wednesday when their helicopter crashed in Kenya's Samburu county while flying toward the Loisaba Conservancy, police said. Luxury tour operator &Beyond confirmed the crash near Mount Ololokwe, saying local authorities are investigating the cause.

At Least 100 Feared Dead in Gold Mine Collapse in Central African Republic

An artisanal gold mine collapse in western Central African Republic's Zamboye village has killed more than 100 people, local sources told Reuters and AFP, with rescuers pulling 30 bodies from the site so far. The collapse, caused by the caving in of underground tunnels, is the latest in a string of deadly mine disasters in CAR, following incidents in June, March, and February that killed dozens more.

UN Rights Chief Raises Concerns Over Opposition Arrests in Zambia

UN human rights chief Volker Türk said today he's concerned about the arrest of 11 opposition officials in Zambia following last week's contested election, where authorities say a raid on a property where opposition leader Brian Mundubile was present turned up "high-grade military weapons." Mundubile denies the allegations and claims his officials were unarmed and fired upon, while President Hakainde Hichilema was declared the winner of a second term despite Mundubile's plans to challenge the results in court.

Spain Reverses Course, Will Move 500 Migrant Children From Ceuta to Mainland

Spain has reversed its earlier stance and will allow 500 migrant children in Ceuta to relocate to the mainland, despite previously saying anyone entering illegally would be sent back. The move comes as Spain's youth ministry works with the Ceuta government to place the most vulnerable children, particularly girls, with NGOs and child protection agencies, even as the European Commission maintains that all irregular migrants, including unaccompanied minors, should be returned to Morocco. Ceuta is a Spanish territory on Morocco’s coast. 

Canadian Company Finds Visible Gold in Beach Samples Along Ghana's Coast

GoldCoast Resource Corp says it found visible gold in beach-sand samples collected across roughly 50 kilometers of Ghana's western coastline, part of its search for offshore mineral deposits across 10 licenses covering about 10,000 square kilometers of continental shelf. The company cautions the findings are preliminary, with no commercial gold deposit yet confirmed, and plans further seabed surveys and drilling to assess viability.

Nigeria's Economic Reforms Delivered $11.7 Billion in Savings, Finance Minister Says

Nigeria's Finance Minister Taiwo Oyedele says President Bola Tinubu's economic reforms, including scrapping fuel subsidies and devaluing the naira, generated 15.8 trillion naira ($11.71 billion) in savings between June 2023 and December 2025. The reforms also narrowed the gap between official and parallel market exchange rates from more than 60% to under 5%, though Nigeria's economic growth remains sluggish, slowing to 3.89% in the first quarter of this year. Campaigning begins today as Nigeria heads to the polls for presidential elections in January, with Tinubu seeking a second term.

U.S. Lifts 12-Year Security Restriction on Nigerian Ships

The U.S. Coast Guard has lifted a 12-year Condition of Entry that required extra security checks on vessels arriving in the U.S. from Nigeria, a restriction first imposed in 2014 over maritime security concerns. The decision follows four security assessments between 2024 and 2026 that found significant improvements in Nigeria's port security, a change officials say should boost the competitiveness of Nigerian ports and improve vessel turnaround times.

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