Africa is splitting into two

Africa is splitting into two. On April 28, 2023, Nairobi, Kenya, experienced movements like an earthquake. It is the latest in movements that have piqued the interest of geologists for years. The area already had a crack that is as much as 50 feet deep and 20 feet wide at some points, and falls within the East African Rift.

If both the tremor and crack are part of the rift, then Africa is gradually pulling apart. No, it didn’t just start. And no, it will not be sudden.

The rift, according to science, started about 22 million years ago, while the separation is occurring at the pace of 6 to 7 millimetres per year.

Although East African Rift started millions of years ago, the shifting tectonic (earth crust) became obvious when the 35-mile-long crack in Ethiopia’s desert emerged in 2005.

The rift runs through Kenyan, Congo DR, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique, — splitting Africa in two.

On the West of the rift is Nubian Plate, while to the East is the Somalian Plate. However, as stated earlier, the split might not happen in this civilisation.

The East African Rift is part of many faults system that are, ambiguously, referred to as the popular Great Rift Valley.

Also, it can be attributed to many factors. One is that it sits on the Victoria micro plate, which has been moving anti-clockwise in the last two years. Also, there are active volcanoes on that stretch. There is the Ol Doinyo Lengai ‘Mountain of God’ in Tanzania, which is 9,442 feet high.

Furthermore, there is a cluster in Ethiopia, such as the Aloo Dalapila and the Erta Ale volcano, ‘the mountain that smokes’. It’s been ‘smoking’ for centuries.

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Implications of Africa splitting into two

Now, if this split happens  another continent (to the left) is formed creating a new ocean between them.

Has this happened before? Very likely. Just take a look at the map of the world. The West end of Africa fits into the East of South America.

Use your imagination to look at the other shores of the other continents.

Most importantly, you will gain interesting insights if you read up on the archeological, agricultural and mineral importance of the African rifts.

Meanwhile, for starters, most interesting aspects of this phenomenon are the political and economic implications of the division of Africa into two.

First, what will the new ocean be called? Again, will the new continent be part of Africa or a new ‘African’ continent just like the Americas.

On the economic front, some landlocked countries in the continent will suddenly have shorelines.