The Central Africa region recognised by the African Union is formed of nine countries: Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of Congo, and São Tomé and Príncipe.
These nine countries also form the core of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), joined by Angola and Rwanda. ECCAS has adopted a protocol on freedom of movement, but its implementation is not as far advanced that of ECOWAS and the East African Community.
More relevant for questions related to respect for the right to a nationality in the region may be the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), which also includes Kenya, Sudan, South Sudan, Uganda and Zambia (but not Cameroon, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, or São Tomé and Príncipe) as signatories to the Pact on Security, Stability and Development in the Great Lakes Region, its founding document.
The ICGLR was formed in response to the multiple crises and refugee flows generated by the war in the DRC – a war that was at least in part generated by conflicts over nationality, over the right of persons who speak Kinyarwanda to be Congolese. Among those affected, some are descendants from people who have always been resident in what is now the DRC, some from people brought as forced labourers by the Belgians, some from refugees who fled Rwanda in 1959, and others are more recent migrants. Its nationality law has been repeatedly amended since 1960 to create different levels of inclusion for Kinyarwanda speakers, and still discriminates on the basis of ethnicity. As a consequence, the DRC has one of the largest populations of people at risk of statelessness – although, thanks to weaknesses of state administration in general, it is impossible to say how many.
The countries of the Central Africa region share a civil law heritage in terms of their nationality laws (though with variations bequeathed by the different traditions of France, Belgium, Portugal and Spain).
By Ahmed Abbas São Tomé and Príncipe’s Citizenship Investment Unit (CIU) has issued a memorandum to licensed marketing agents announcing three simultaneous changes to the country’s citizenship by investment (CBI) program, including a formal hold on applications from individuals holding […]
poste par Roxanne Bouenguidi L’ordonnance n° 0004/PR/2026 pose la question de la communauté de destin. Faut-il fonder l’appartenance à la nation sur la biologie, l’ethnie, l’histoire collective ou l’histoire individuelle et l’adhésion à des valeurs partagées ? Que dire de […]
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Au Gabon, le Code de la nationalité vient d’être révisé par ordonnance présidentielle, promulguée le 26 février 2026, pendant que les députés et sénateurs étaient en vacances parlementaires. Les Gabonais ont commencé à prendre connaissance du nouveau Code lorsque des […]
Signée le 26 février 2026 et publiée au Journal Officiel le 25 mars 2026, l’ordonnance portant Code de la Nationalité Gabonaise est peut-être le texte le plus dangereux signé depuis le coup d’État d’août 2023. Sous couvert de modernisation juridique, […]
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By Emmanuel Nwosu On the storm-scarred hillside of Roseau Valley, Dominica, the tiny Caribbean island nation, a passport is funding a geothermal plant for clean energy. In Basseterre, St. Kitts, it once funded 60–70% of government revenue. In Valletta, Malta, […]
Wedaeli Chibelushi Published 7 February 2026 Although their forefathers were seized from West and Central Africa centuries ago, the bond between African-Americans and their ancestral home has been a lasting one. For instance, Liberia, Africa’s oldest republic, was founded by […]
Edited by ‘Gbenga Sesan and Tony Roberts Millions of citizens in Africa are unable to obtain essential services that they are entitled to as new digital ID systems continue being imposed across the continent, requiring them to provide biometric and […]
Dangerous Turn Violates Human Rights and Sends Messages to Activists By Lewis Mudge On September 17, the Chadian authorities published a decree purporting to strip blogger Makaila Nguebla and journalist Charfadine Galmaye Saleh of their nationality. The move marks a chilling escalation […]
Le président tchadien Mahamat Idriss Déby a déchu mercredi par décret deux activistes tchadiens établis en France, dénonçant leur virulence envers le pouvoir et les accusant d’intelligence avec des puissances étrangères. «Messieurs Chafardine Galmaye Saleh et N’Guebla Makaïla sont déchus […]