Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are set to visit Nigeria later this month, but have been told to address their issues with security as the vast numbers of people in the country are in poverty.

The couple will be heading to the African country for the first time as a couple after being invited by the West African nation’s highest-ranking military official. Due to the invite by the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Gwabin Musa, it’s said the Sussexes will receive the type of security they expected in the UK too before Harry lost his appeal.

However, the cost of their African security is set to be paid for by the government of Nigeria, according to reports. Such a bill comes as the country continues to deal with mass poverty, with an estimated 87 million people in the nation living below the poverty line. The couple will visit the African country to take part in talks about the Invictus Games and participate in cultural activities. Harry and Meghan will also be meeting with service members and their families.

Their visit also comes after Harry faced pressure to review his role on the board of conservation charity, African Parks following a number of allegations directed towards the charity. The Duke of Sussex was named as the president for six years before he was promoted to the governing board of directors in 2023. Part of his new duties saw him take on shared responsibility for overseeing the charity’s policy and supervising its management of 22 national parks in partnerships with governments across African countries.

Last month, current and former staff at the charity shared their own experiences of what happens behind the scenes at the conservation. Some claimed armed rangers use torture methods to extract information from poachers. Author and journalist Olivier van Beenman interviewed a number of sources as part of his three-year investigation into the organization – which receives funding from British aid, US billionaires and celebrities. The journalist’s findings revealed the extent of the shocking allegations in new book titled Entrepreneurs in the Wild.

African Parks, however, disputed findings in the book, saying the publication was “deeply flawed”. A statement said: “African Parks has been in operation for more than 20 years, with long-term agreements with 12 different sovereign governments and numerous traditional authorities. We have received funding from most of the global institutions … all of which require detailed vetting processes, as well as intermittent grant audits.”