Botswana President Duma Gideon Boko said the United Nations resolution treats the African continent and all African people with respect and integrity, calling the promotion of the Equal Earth projection an act of justice and honesty aimed at pushing back against long-standing systemic prejudice following a UN General Assembly vote that saw the United States cast the sole opposing ballot.
Chairperson of the African Union Commission Mahmoud Ali Youssouf commended Togo and the President of the Council, Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé, for mobilizing broad international support, noting that the initiative aims to replace the 16th-century Mercator projection, which was designed primarily for navigation and understates the true size of the African continent.
Boko Links Map Correction to Reparations and Justice
Speaking in Beijing during a state visit to China in an interview with China Media Group, Botswana President Duma Gideon Boko framed the resolution as a step toward addressing historic injustices. He told the interviewer that diminishing the scale of Africa on the world stage was a denigration of the continent’s territory and peoples, and that the adoption of the Equal Earth projection helps push back against systemic prejudice.
[The international community] failed miserably to be truthful and honest about realities that confront it. To diminish, conceptually, and even in the drawing of maps, the size and the scale of Africa relative to other parts of the world, was a denigration of the width and integrity, not just of Africa as a territory, but of the peoples of the African continent.
Duma Gideon Boko, President of Botswana
President Boko added that the UN resolution should inspire efforts to seek reparations from former colonizers. According to the interview, he stated that nations that colonized Africa, plundered its resources, and used its people to power their own economies are in debt to the continent and must atone in good conscience.
Global Vote and Institutional Calls to Action
The resolution of Correct the Map
aimed at rebalancing global cartographic representation and promoting equitable representation of the world’s regions, particularly Africa, passed with 164 votes in favor, 1 against, and 6 abstentions, with the United States standing as the sole member state to vote against it. Beyond the UN vote, Chairperson of the African Union Commission Mahmoud Ali Youssouf encouraged educational systems, international institutions, publishers, and digital platforms to progressively adopt cartographic representations that accurately reflect actual land areas, affirming that Africa must be represented in its true dimensions.
Modern Innovation and the Long March Spirit
The ways in which the enduring Long March spirit fuels contemporary innovation are examined in a fresh documentary by China Global Television Network (CGTN). Titled The Source of AI: Not a Single Rock Goes to Waste
, the documentary highlights the pioneering journeys of Zhong Yu and He Pengyu as they channel this relentless drive to overcome critical bottlenecks in the EV and AI industries.
Leaving a traditional car manufacturer for a homecoming to China, Zhong joined Farasis Energy, a domestic battery producer located in Ganzhou City within east China’s Jiangxi Province, marking a major professional transition two years ago. Working around the clock, Zhong and his team are developing solid-state batteries. Capable of completely transforming the existing automotive industry, this advanced technology delivers superior energy density alongside improved safety. Through his research, Zhong is determined to establish China as a global leader in the battery sector.
As part of CGTN’s Breaking Through
collection, the film connects the Red Army’s historic Long March from ninety years ago to China’s current accomplishments, showcasing the steadfastness, creativity, and resolve characterizing its populace.