University of
Wisconsin-Madison African Studies Program
Outreach Services
Heads of State,
Capitals, and Countries in Africa
- ALGERIA
Official Language: Arabic
Capital: Algiers
Head of State: Abdelaziz Bouteflika
- ANGOLA
Official Language: Portuguese
Capital: Luanda
Head of State: Jose Eduardo dos Santos
- BENIN
Official Language: French
Capital: Porto Novo
Head of State: Matthieu Kerekou
- BOTSWANA
Official Language: English
Capital: Gaborone
Head of State: Sir Quett Ketumile Joni Masire
- BURKINA FASO
Official Language: French
Capital: Ouagadougou
Head of State: Blaise Campaore
- BURUNDI
Official Languages: French, Kirundi, Swahili
Capital: Bujumbura
Head of State: Pierre Buyoya
- CAMEROON
Official Languages: French and English
Capital: Yaounde
Head of State: Paul Biya
- CANARY ISLANDS
Official Language: Spanish
Capital: Las Palmas
Head of State: Spanish Colony
- CAPE VERDE
Official Languages: Portuguese and Creole
Capital: Praia
Head of State: Antonio Mascarenhas Monteiro
- CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
Official Language: French
Capital: Bangui
Head of State: Ange-Felix Patasse
- CHAD
Official Language: French
Capital: N'Djamena
Head of State: Idriss Deby
- COMOROS (Federal Islamic Republic)
Official Languages: Arabic and French
Capital: Moroni
Head of State: Assoumani Azali
- CONGO (Democratic Republic of - formerly Zaire)
Official Language: French
Capital: Kinshasa
Head of State: Laurent Desire Kabila
- CONGO (Republic of the Congo)
Official Language: French
Capital: Braazaville
Head of State: Prof. Pascal Lissouba
- COTE D'IVOIRE
Official Language: French
Capital: Abidjan
Head of State: Henri Konan-Bedie
- DJIBOUTI
Official Languages: Arabic and French
Capital: Djibouti
Head of State: Ismail Omar Guelleh
- EGYPT
Official Language: Arabic
Capital: Cairo
Head of State: Hosni Mubarak
- EQUITORIAL GUINEA
Official Language: Spanish
Capital: Malabo
Head of State: Col. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo
- ERITREA
Official Language: Amharic
Capital: Asmara
Head of State: Isaias Aferwerki
- ETHIOPIA
Official Language: Amharic
Capital: Addis Ababa
Head of State: Meles Zenawi
- GABON
Official Language: French
Capital: Libreville
Head of State: El Hadj Omar Bongo
- GAMBIA
Official Language: English
Capital: Banjul
Head of State: Capt. Yahya Jammeh
- GHANA
Official Language: English
Capital: Accra
Head of State: Jerry Rawlings
- GUINEA
Official Language: French
Capital: Conakry
Head of State: Brig. Gen. Lansana Conte
- GUINEA-BISSAU
Official Language: Portuguese
Capital: Bissau
Head of State: Joao Bernardo Vieira
- KENYA
Official Languages: Kiswahili and English
Capital: Nairobi
Head of State: Daniel T. arap Moi
- LESOTHO (Kingdom of)
Official Languages: Sesotho and English
Capital: Maseru
Head of State: King Letsie III
- LIBERIA
Official Language: English
Capital: Monrovia
Head of State: Dankpanah Charles Ghankay Taylor
- LIBYA
Official Language: Arabic
Capital: Tripoli/Benghazi
Head of State: Muammar Quadafi
- MADAGASCAR
Official Languages: Madagasy and French
Capital: Antananarivo
Head of State: Didier Ratsiraka
- MALAWI
Official Languages: Chichewa and English
Capital: Lilongwe
Head of State: Bakili Muluzi
- MALI
Official Language: French
Capital: Bamako
Head of State: Alpha Oumar Konare
- MAURITANIA (Islamic Repulic of)
Official Languages: Arabic and French
Capital: Nouakchott
Head of State: Moaouia Ould Sidi Mohammed Taya
- MAURITIUS
Official Languages: English and French
Capital: Port Louis
Head of State: Cassam Uteem
- MOROCCO (Al-Mamlaka al-Maghrebia)
Official Language: Arabic
Capital: Rabat
Head of State: King Hassan II
- MOZAMBIQUE
Official Language: Portuguese
Capital: Maputo
Head of State: Joaquim Chissano
- NAMIBIA
Official Language: English
Capital: Windhoek
Head of State: Samuel Daniel Nujoma
- NIGER
Official Language: French
Capital: Niamey
Head of State: Daouda Malam Wanke
- NIGERIA
Official Language: English
Capital: Abuja
Head of State: General Olusegun Obasanjo
- REUNION
Official Language: French
Capital: St. Denis
Head of State: French Territory
- RWANDA
Official Languages: French and Kinyarwanda
Capital: Kigali
Head of State: Pasteur Bizimungu
- SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE
Official Language: Portuguese
Capital: Sao Tome
Head of State: Miguel Trovoada
- SENEGAL
Official Languages: Wolof and French
Capital: Dakar
Head of State: Abdou Diouf
- SEYCHELLES
Official Languages: Creole, English and French
Capital: Victoria
Head of State: France-Albert Rene
- SIERRA LEONE
Official Language: English
Capital: Freetown
Head of State: Ahmad Tejan Kabbah
- SOMALIA
Official Languages: Somali and Arabic
Capital: Mogadishu
Head of State: Ali Madhi Mohammed (de jure head
of state)
- SOUTH AFRICA
Official Languages: English, Afrikaans, Ndebele,
Northern Sotho, Sesotho, SiSwati, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda,
Xhosa, Zulu
Capital: Cape Town (legislative); Pretoria
(administrative); Bloemfontein (judicial)
Head of State: Thabo Mbeki
- SUDAN
Official Language: Arabic
Capital: Khartoum
Head of State: Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir
- SWAZILAND (Kingdom of)
Official Languages: English and Siswati
Capital: Mbabane
Head of State: King Mswati III
- TANZANIA
Official Languages: Kiswahili and English
Capital: Dar es Salaam; Dodoma (administrative)
Head of State: Benjamin Mkapa
- TOGO
Official Language: French
Capital: Lome
Head of State: Gnassimgbe Eyadema
- TUNISIA (Al-Djoumhouri Attunisia)
Official Language: Arabic
Capital: Tunis
Head of State: Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali
- UGANDA
Official Language: English, Kiswahili, Luganda,
Luo
Capital: Kampala
Head of State: Yoweri Museveni
- WESTERN SAHARA
Official Language: Arabic
Capital: El Aiun
Head of State: Mohammed Abdel Aziz
- ZAMBIA
Official Language: English
Capital: Lusaka
Head of State: Frederick Chiluba
- ZIMBABWE
Official Languages: English, Shona, Ndebele
Capital: Harare
Head of State: Robert Gabriel Mugabe