Region

Africa

The continent where the church is growing fastest today and, at the same time, where many peoples still live without a church, especially in the Muslim north and the Sahel.

58 countries 2.534 peoples 19.7% evangelicals
What to pray for
Algeria Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Comoros Congo Democratic Republic of the Congo Djibouti Egypt Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Eswatini Ethiopia Gabon Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Ivory Coast Kenya Lesotho Liberia Libya Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Morocco Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Réunion Rwanda Saint Helena São Tomé and Príncipe Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Somalia South Africa South Sudan Sudan Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda Western Sahara Zambia Zimbabwe

The 58 flags of the region. Tap one to open the country.

Gospel reach among the 2.534 peoples

869Unreached · 34.3% of peoples
1.665reached peoples
19.7%evangelicals (weighted average)
  • 25.1% Unreached (637)
  • 9.2% Minimally reached (232)
  • 4.2% Superficially reached (107)
  • 38.4% Partially reached (974)
  • 23% Significantly reached (584)

Largest unreached peoples: Egyptian Arab 68M Hausa 59.1M Arabic-Speaking Algerian 37.2M

The Bible in the languages of the region
3.181languages spoken
848With complete Bible
2.333Without complete Bible
147With no translation at all
  • 26.7% With complete Bible (848)
  • 68.7% Only portions of the Bible (2.186)
  • 4.6% With no translation at all (147)

Source: Joshua Project and Progress.Bible. Estimates, may vary. Compiled from the data of each country in this region.

What it is

Africa is the world’s second-largest continent, with 58 countries stretching from the Sahara Desert to the tropical forests of the Congo and the southern savannas. It is a continent of immense diversity in peoples, languages and histories, and also home to the planet’s largest concentration of ethnic groups still unreached with the gospel.

Christianity has ancient roots on the continent, especially in Egypt and Ethiopia, where the faith arrived in the church’s earliest centuries. But the spread of the gospel has been profoundly uneven: while countries such as Nigeria and Kenya became centers of Christian strength and missionary sending, the predominantly Muslim north remains among the world’s least reached regions.

Today Africa is home to 2,534 ethnic groups, and 869 of them are still considered unreached, with no established church among them. The average proportion of evangelical Christians on the continent is 15.8%, but this figure conceals enormous contrasts between predominantly Christian regions and others where the church is still virtually nonexistent. Regarding Scripture, 2,333 of the continent’s 3,181 languages still have no Bible translation.

Africa is also a growing force in missionary sending: thousands of African missionaries already cross borders within the continent and travel to other parts of the world. Pray for this growing church, that it may mature in depth and reach the peoples still waiting to hear the name of Jesus proclaimed in their own language for the first time.

Context and characteristics

A continent of contrasts

It encompasses nations with strong evangelical majorities as well as countries where the Christian church is almost nonexistent.

Ancient Christian roots

Egypt and Ethiopia received the gospel in the earliest centuries of the Christian era, long before European colonization.

Diversity of peoples

The continent has the world's greatest ethnic and linguistic variety, with thousands of distinct groups.

An emerging missionary force

Countries such as Nigeria and Kenya already send missionaries to other African nations and other continents.

The Scripture barrier

Most of the continent's languages still have no portion of the Bible translated.

Countries in this region
Map of the countries in AfricaMap of the countries in Africa
Algeria Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Cape Verde Central African Rep. Chad Comoros Congo DR Congo Djibouti Egypt Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Eswatini Ethiopia Gabon Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Ivory Coast Kenya Lesotho Liberia Libya Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Morocco Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Réunion Rwanda Saint Helena São Tomé and Príncipe Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Somalia South Africa South Sudan Sudan Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda Western Sahara Zambia Zimbabwe

Subregions: Sub-Saharan Africa Southern Africa Central Africa West Africa Guinea Coast Western Sahel East Africa African Great Lakes Horn of Africa North Africa

Unreached peoples of this region 869 in total
Egyptian Arab +28

Egyptian Arab

73.6M people7 unreached locations

+13

Hausa

59.1M people16 unreached locations

+22

Moroccan Arab

31.5M people25 unreached locations

+24

Somali

28.9M people27 unreached locations

See all 869 unreached peoples in this region

What to pray for
Intercession
For Africa's 869 still-unreached people groups, that they may have their first opportunity to hear the gospel.
For Scripture translation into the 2,333 African languages that still have no portion of the Bible.
For the church in the north of the continent, still small among predominantly Muslim nations.
For African missionaries sent to other countries on the continent and other nations around the world.
For unity among African churches, often divided by ethnicity, language or denomination.
For the maturity of the church in regions of rapid growth, that it may deepen discipleship.
For African children and families amid conflict, poverty and displacement in various parts of the continent.

Related content