African Heads of State

African Union Heads-of-State (African Leadership Magazine)

Welcome to our African Heads of State page. What you see below are the profiles of the first post-Independences Heads of State of 55 African nations and their contemporary counterparts, the current Heads of State. Please return to the page often as we will update it when new Heads of State are chosen. If you have questions or concerns about this page, please contact us at [email protected].

Algeria

Ahmed Ben Bella (1916-2012)

Abdelmadjid Tebboune (1945- )

Angola

Agostinho Neto (1922-1979)

Joao Lourenço (1964- )

Benin

Hubert Maga (1916-2000)

Patrice Talon (1958- )

Botswana

Seretse Khama (1921-1980)

Mokgweetsi Masisi (1962- )

Burkina Faso

Maurice Yaméogo (1921-1993)

Ibrahim Traore (1988-)

Burundi

André Muhirwa (1920-2003)

Évariste “Neva” Ndayishimiye (1968- )

Cameroon

Ahmadou Ahidjo (1924-1989)

Paul Biya (1933- )

Cape Verde

Aristides Pereira (1923-2011)

José Maria Neves (1960- )

Central African Republic

David Dacko (1930-2003)

Faustin-Archange Touadera
(1957- )

Chad

François Tombalbaye (1918-1975)

Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno
(1984- )

Comoros

Ahmed Abdallah (1919-1989)

Azali Assoumani
(1959- )

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Patrice Emery Lumumba
(1925-1961)

Felix Tshisekedi (1963– )

Djibouti

Hassan Gouled Aptidon (1916-2006)

Ismaïl Omar Guelleh
(1947- )

Egypt

Mohamed Naguib (1901-1984)

Abdel Fattah al-Sisi
(1954- )

Equatorial Guinea

Francisco Macias Nguema (1924-1979)

Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo (1942- )

Eritrea

Isaias Afwerki
(1946- )

Eswatini (formerly Swaziland)

King Sobhuza II (1899-1982)

Mswati III
(1986- )

Ethiopia

Emperor Menelik II (Sahle Miriam) (1844-1913)

Abiy Ahmed (1976- )

Gabon

Léon M’ba (1902-1967)

Ali Bongo Ondimba
(1959- )

Gambia

Dawda Kairaba Jawara (1924-2019)

Adama Barrow
(1965- )

Ghana

Kwame Nkrumah (1909-1972)

Nana Akufo-Addo (1944- )

Guinea

Ahmed Sékou Touré (1922-1984)

Mamady Doumbouya (1980- )

Guinea-Bissau

Luis Cabral (1931-2009)

Umaro Embaló
(1972- )

Ivory Coast

Félix Houphouet-Boigny (1905-1993)

Alassane Ouattara
(1942- )

Kenya

Jomo Kenyatta (c. 1894-1978)

Uhuru Kenyatta
(1961- )

Lesotho

Joseph Leabua Jonathan (1914-1987)

Moeketsi Majoro
(1961- )

Liberia

Joseph Jenkins Roberts (1809–1876)

George Weah
(1966- )

Libya

King Idris (1889/90-1983)

Mohamed Younis al-Menfi
(1976- )

Madagascar

Andry Rajoelina
(1974- )

Philibert Tsiranana (1912-1978)

Malawi

Hastings Banda (ca. 1896-1997)

Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera
(1995- )

Mali

Modibo Keita (1915-1977)

Assimi Goita
(1983- )

Mauritania

Mohamed Ould Ghazouani
(1956- )

Moktar Ould Daddah (1924-2003)

Mauritius

Seewoosagur Ramgoolam (1900-1985)

Pravind Kumar Jugnauth
(1961- )

Morocco

Mohammed V (1909-1961)

Mohammed VI
(1963- )

Mozambique

Samora Moises Machel (1933-1986)

Filipe Jacinto Nyusi
(1959- )

Namibia

Sam Nujoma (1929- )

Hage Gottfried Geingob
(1941- )

Niger

Hamani Diori (1916-1989)

Mohamed Bazoum
(1960- )

Nigeria

Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (1912-1966)

Muhammadu Buhari
(1942- )

Republic of the Congo

Fulbert Youlou (1917-1972)

Denis Sassou-Nguesso (1943- )

Rwanda

Grégoire Kayibanda (1924-1976)

Paul Kagame (1957- )

São Tomé and Principe

Manuel Pinto da Costa
(1937- )

Jorge Lopes Bom Jesus (1962- )

Senegal

Léopold Sédar Senghor (1906-2001)

Macky Sall (1961- )

Seychelles

James Richard Marie Mancham (1939-2017)

Wavel Ramkalawan (1961- )

Sierra Leone

Milton Augustus Margai (1895-1964)

Julius Maada Wonie Bio
(1964- )

Somalia

Aden Abdullah Osman Daar (1908-2007)

Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (1955- )

South Africa

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (1918-2013)

Cyril Ramaphosa (1952- )

South Sudan

Salva Kiir Mayardit (1951- )

Sudan

Ismail Al-Azhari (1900-1969)

Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (1960- )

Tanzania

Julius K. Nyerere (1922-1999)

Samia Suluhu Hassan (1960- )

Togo

Sylvanus Olympio (1902-1963)

Faure Gnassingbé (1966- )

Tunisia

Habib Bourguiba (1903-2000)

Kaïs Saïed (1958- )

Uganda

Milton Obote (1925-2005)

Yoweri Kaguta Museveni (1944- )

Western Sahara (Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic)

El-Ouali Mustafa Sayed (1948-1976)

Brahim Ghali
(1949- )

Zambia

Kenneth Kaunda (1924- )

Hakainde Hichilema
(1962- )

Zimbabwe

Robert Gabriel Mugabe (1924-2019)

Emmerson Mnangagwa (1942- )