Lesson 5/55 min
West Africa country notes
Nigeria
- Official name Federal Republic of Nigeria; capital Abuja
- The most populous country in Africa
- Largest group: the Hausa-Fulani (one source's wording)
- The Commonwealth suspended Nigeria's membership over the execution of the playwright Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others (1995; restored in 1999)
- President Bola Tinubu (since 2023); the next election is in early 2027 and he is seeking a second term
Ghana
- Formerly the Gold Coast; independent on 6 March 1957
- Main people: the Akan; “Ghana” means warrior king
Senegal and Gambia
- Senegal is named after the Senegal River; earlier a French colony
- Senegal was the first African country to recognise Bangladesh (1 February 1972)
- The Senegambia Confederation formed in 1982 and broke up in 1989
- Gambia is the smallest country on the African mainland; the Gambia River runs through it into the Atlantic; capital Banjul (a port); largest city Serekunda
- Groundnuts are the main crop and export
- In a bloodless coup (22 July 1994) Yahya Jammeh took power
- Gambia took Myanmar to the International Court of Justice over the Rohingya genocide
Watch out: One source's date for the break-up reads “21 September 1982”, which cannot be right. Sources say it ended in 1989 (one gives 30 September), so only the year is given.
Sierra Leone and Liberia
- Sierra Leone became a republic in 1971; the name means “Lion Mountains”; capital Freetown
- The guerrilla group of the civil war was the RUF; the UN peacekeeping mission was UNAMSIL
- A road in Sierra Leone is named Bangladesh (one source's claim)
- Liberia is Africa's oldest independent republic; independent in 1847; the name means free land
- Liberia's first woman president was Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (the “Iron Lady”)
- Bangladesh Square in Monrovia: a gift from Bangladeshi peacekeepers (one source's claim)
Watch out: Exams treat “Sierra Leone gave Bangla the status of an official language” as the answer. Fact-checks show English is Sierra Leone's only official language; the government reportedly gave Bangla an honorary status in 2002. One source calls it a “second language”. It also says the name is Spanish; it is generally traced to Portuguese sailors.
Three Sahel countries
- Mali: about half of the north is the Sahara; once part of the Ghana, Mali and Songhai empires; the dictatorship ended in a 1991 coup and a democratic election followed in 1992; mostly Muslim
- Niger: landlocked, named after the Niger River; Algeria and Libya to the north, Chad to the east, Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west
- Burkina Faso: landlocked; one of the poorest countries; the Sahara lies to the north
The rest
- Cape Verde: Africa's westernmost island nation, in the Atlantic
- Mauritania: officially an Islamic republic; exams name it as the last country to abolish slavery (one source's answer)
- Guinea: formerly French Guinea; Guinea-Bissau: after independence “Bissau” was added to the name to avoid confusion with Guinea
- Benin was formerly Dahomey (renamed in 1975); voodoo is an ancient African belief
Recent elections and changes (per news)
| Country | What happened |
|---|---|
| Guinea | Junta leader Mamady Doumbouya won the 28 December 2025 election with 86.72 percent; a seven-year term |
| Benin | Finance minister Romuald Wadagni won the April 2026 election with about 94 percent |
| Nigeria | The next election is in early 2027; Tinubu's APC governs 31 states |
Check yourself
Which was the first African country to recognise Bangladesh?
At a glance
- 1
Nigeria is Africa's most populous country; its capital is Abuja.
- 2
Ghana was formerly the Gold Coast; independence on 6 March 1957.
- 3
Senegal was the first African country to recognise Bangladesh.
- 4
Gambia is the smallest mainland country; it took the Rohingya genocide case to the ICJ.
- 5
Liberia was never colonised; its first woman president was Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
- 6
New presidents were elected in Guinea (December 2025) and Benin (April 2026); the three Sahel states are under military rule.