For nine days in early 2006, Saad Al-Salim Al-Sabah headed the government of Kuwait. He was born in 1930, the son of a Ethiopian slave named Jameela (or Jamila) who was one of the five wives of his father, Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah, the 11th ruler … Read MoreSaad Al-Salim Al-Sabah (aka Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah) (1930-2008)
Mohamed Siad Barre (Maxamed Siad Barre) was a military general in Somalia and the country’s third president. He came into power in October of 1969, leading a coup d’état against the elected government. Barre ruled over Somalia until 1991 when he was overthrown by militias, … Read MoreMohamed Siad Barre (1910-1995)
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni is the President of Uganda, a post he has held since 1986. Museveni was born on September 15, 1944, to Mzee Amos Kaguta and Esteri Kokundeka Nganzi in Rukungirl, British Protectorate of Uganda (now Uganda). At an early age, Museveni moved to … Read MoreYoweri Kaguta Museveni (1944- )
John Pombe Joseph Magufuli was a politician who served as the fifth President of Tanzania from 2015 to 2021. Magufuli was born on October 29, 1959, in Chato, Tanganyika (now Tanzania), to John Joseph Magufuli and an unnamed mother. Growing up, Magufuli attended the Chato … Read MoreJohn Pombe Joseph Magufuli (1959-2021)
On March 19, 2021, Samia Suluhu Hassan became Tanzania’s president following the death of President John Magufuli from heart failure on March 17. Hassan, the sixth president of Tanzania, and the first woman to head this nation was born in the town of Makunduchi, Tanzania … Read MoreSamia Suluhu Hassan (1960- )
Both a pharaoh of Egypt and a king of Kush (in present-day Sudan), Taharqa (meaning “young man” or “young warrior”) was the son of Piankhi (or Piye), the king of the Kushites who conquered Egypt in 744 and founded its 25th dynasty that lasted 88 … Read MoreTaharqa (?-664 B.C.E.)
The East African presence in the royal courts of India can be traced back to the 13th century. By the 16th century several Abyssinians (or Habshis as they were known there), the descendants of Ethiopian slaves, had become military generals and government ministers in Delhi … Read MoreIkhlas Khan (a.k.a. Malik Raihan Habshi, ?-1656)
Chief Festus Samuel Okotie-Eboh, one of the Founding Fathers of the Republic of Nigeria, was born on July 18, 1912 in the city of Warri to an Itsekiri Prince, Okotie Eboh of Jakpa. His mother, Ekayoda Ojegba was from another ethnic group, Urhobo in Okpe … Read MoreFestus Samuel Okotie-Eboh (1912-1966)
Miguel I de Buría, also known as King Miguel and Miguel the Black, was a formerly enslaved man from San Juan, Puerto Rico who ruled as the King of Buría in the modern-day state of Lara, Venezuela from 1552 to 1555. He is best known … Read MoreMiguel I de Buría (1510-1555)
Juan José Nieto Gil, a Colombian politician, writer, and army general was the first president of African descent in Colombia. Nieto Gil was born on June 24, 1805, in Loma del Muerto, Colombia to Tomás Nicolás Nieto and Benedicta Nieto. He had three siblings, Francisca … Read MoreJuan José Nieto Gil (1805-1866)
