I have seen a number of discussions on volcanic activity in the rift valley and expanding lakes such as this:
https://x.com/254_icon/status/1985373109265088853
I have concluded, it was not because of lack of ability or knowledge. When the colonialists or early visitors arrived on the African continent, some if them wrote of how expansive the continent was and how some lands had no people occupying. It was not by mistake. Ancient Africans might have known the weather, geographic etc
Like the horn of Africa was not settled in most areas but along the coast and rivers, few elevated areas or where the water table was high enough to dig a borehole because of recurring droughts after a certain period.
The rift valley some areas were not settled because of seismic activity, expanding and contracting lakes, too hot or too cold in some areas.
The congo forest deep expansive cover and flooding due to lots of rain
And so on and so on.
It’s recently with colonialism that this knowledge was disregarded maybe because of advancement in technology.
The story is the same for some islands. Even the Caribbean may not have been populated that much because of Hurricanes.