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5 African Countries That Retained Their Colonial Names

Published

12 months ago

October 26, 2024

Editor

Names are an important part of who we are, and that is true for African countries with their names often reflecting history and culture.

Many African countries were once colonised by European powers, who named them during that time.

Some countries changed their names after they became independent, choosing something that felt more connected to their identity. But other countries decided to keep the names from the colonial era.

Here are five African countries that retained their colonial names:

Nigeria

The name Nigeria comes from the Niger River, which flows through the country. It was coined on January 8, 1897, by British journalist Flora Shaw. The neighbouring Republic of Niger also takes its name from the same river.

Nigeria gained partial self-governance in 1954 and full independence from the United Kingdom on October 1, 1960, as the Federation of Nigeria. Abubakar Tafawa Balewa became the country’s first Prime Minister, while Queen Elizabeth II remained the ceremonial head of state as Queen of Nigeria.

Mali

Mali came under French colonial rule in 1892. By 1893, the French had appointed a civilian governor for the territory, known as Soudan Français (French Sudan), but resistance to their rule persisted. By 1905, most of the region was firmly under French control.
French Sudan was managed as part of the Federation of French West Africa and provided labour for France’s coastal colonies. In 1958, the territory, now called the Sudanese Republic, gained complete internal autonomy and joined the French Community. In early 1959, the Sudanese Republic and Senegal formed the Federation of Mali. On March 31, 1960, France agreed to grant the Federation of Mali full independence. On June 20, 1960, the Federation of Mali became an independent nation, with Modibo Keïta as its first president.

Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa, got its name from 15th-century Portuguese explorer Pedro de Sintra, who was the first European to map Freetown harbor. The original Portuguese name “Serra Lyoa” (meaning “Lion Mountains”) referred to the hills surrounding the harbor. On April 27, 1961, Sierra Leone gained independence from British colonial rule. The Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) won the general elections in 1962, with the All People’s Congress (APC) emerging as the primary opposition party.

Guinea

Guinea officially gained independence from France on October 2, 1958, after a referendum on the French Fifth Republic’s constitution on September 28 of that year. Ahmed Sékou Touré, a member of the Malinké ethnic group and a leftist leader, was appointed the first president by the Constituent Assembly.
The country is named after the Guinea region, which extends from the Gulf of Guinea into tropical forested areas and reaches the Sahel. The term “Guinea” comes from the Portuguese word “Guiné,” which emerged in the 15th century to describe lands inhabited by African people south of the Senegal River.
In 1978, Guinea’s official name changed to the People’s Revolutionary Republic of Guinea, and in 1984, after the death of Sékou Touré, the country was renamed the Republic of Guinea.

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Cameroon

The area now known as Cameroon was originally called “Rio dos Camarões” (River of Prawns) by Portuguese explorers in the 15th century, due to the large number of shrimp they found in the Wouri River. This name evolved into “Cameroon” during British and French colonial rule. In 1884, the region became a German colony known as Kamerun.
After World War I, it was divided between France and the United Kingdom under League of Nations mandates, with France governing 4/5 of the territory and the UK administering the remaining 1/5.
Cameroon gained independence from France in 1960 and from the UK in 1961.

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Afghanistan-Pakistan Border Clashes Escalate After Alleged Air Strikes

Published

2 days ago

October 11, 2025

Editor

Afghanistan’s Taliban forces launched armed reprisals against Pakistani soldiers along the shared border on Saturday, accusing Islamabad of carrying out air strikes on its soil, senior officials from several provinces said Saturday.

On Thursday, two explosions were heard in the Afghan capital and another in the southeast of the country. The following day, the Taliban-run defence ministry blamed the attacks on Pakistan, accusing its neighbor of violating its sovereignty.

“In retaliation for air strikes carried out by the Pakistani army on Kabul,” Taliban forces are engaged “in heavy clashes against Pakistani security forces in various areas” along the border, the Afghan military said in a statement.

Islamabad did not confirm that it was behind Thursday’s attacks, but called on Kabul “to stop harbouring the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) on its soil.”

The TTP, trained in combat in Afghanistan and claiming to share the same ideology as the Afghan Taliban, is accused by Islamabad of having killed hundreds of its soldiers since 2021.

Taliban officials from Kunar, Nangarhar, Paktia, Khost, and Helmand provinces — all located on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan — confirmed that clashes were ongoing.

“This evening, Taliban forces began using weapons. We fired first light and then heavy artillery at four points along the border,” a senior official in Pakistan’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, bordering Afghanistan, told AFP.

“Pakistani forces responded with heavy fire and shot down three Afghan quadcopters suspected of carrying explosives. Intense fighting continues, but so far, no casualties have been reported,” he continued.

– Uptick in violence –

In recent months, TTP militants have intensified their campaign of violence against Pakistani security forces in the mountainous areas bordering Afghanistan.

Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of failing to expel militants who use Afghan territory to launch attacks on Pakistan, an accusation denied by authorities in Kabul.

The TTP and its affiliates are behind most of the violence — largely directed at security forces.

Earlier this year, a UN report said the TTP “receive substantial logistical and operational support from the de facto authorities”, referring to the Taliban government in Kabul.

Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told parliament on Thursday that several efforts to convince the Afghan Taliban to stop backing the TTP had failed.

“We will not tolerate this any longer,” Asif said. “United, we must respond to those facilitating them, whether the hideouts are on our soil or Afghan soil.”

Earlier Saturday, the TTP claimed responsibility for deadly attacks in several districts in northwest Pakistan that killed 20 security officials and three civilians.

AFP

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Taliban Attacks Kill 23 In Northwestern Pakistan

Published

2 days ago

October 11, 2025

Editor

The Pakistani Taliban on Saturday claimed responsibility for deadly attacks in several northwestern districts that killed 20 security officials and three civilians.

The attacks, which included a suicide bombing on a police training school, were carried out on Friday in several districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that borders Afghanistan.

Militancy has surged in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since the withdrawal of US-led troops from neighbouring Afghanistan in 2021 and the return of the Taliban government in Kabul.

Eleven paramilitary troops were killed in the border Khyber district, while seven policemen were killed after a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into the gate of a police training school, which was followed by a gun attack.

Five people, including three civilians, were killed in a separate clash in Bajaur district, security officials told AFP on Saturday.

The Pakistani Taliban, the Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP), claimed responsibility for the attacks in messages on social media. The group is separate from but closely linked with the Afghan Taliban.

The attacks came hours after Afghanistan’s Taliban government accused Pakistan of “violating Kabul’s sovereign territory”, a day after two explosions were heard in the capital.

Pakistan did not say if it was behind the blasts in Kabul, but said it had the right to defend itself against surging border militancy.

Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of failing to expel militants using Afghan territory to launch attacks on Pakistan, an accusation that authorities in Kabul deny.

The TTP and its affiliates are behind most of the violence — largely directed at security forces.

Including Friday’s attacks, at least 32 Pakistani troops and three civilians have been killed this week alone in the border regions.

AFP

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US Threatens To Sanction Countries That Vote For Shipping Carbon Tax

Published

2 days ago

October 11, 2025

Editor

The United States on Friday threatened to impose sanctions and take other punitive action against any country that votes in favor of a carbon tax on maritime transportation to be implemented through a UN agency.

“We will fight hard to protect our economic interests by imposing costs on countries if they support” the Net Zero Framework, said a joint statement by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his counterparts at the departments of energy and transportation.

Members of the London-based International Maritime Organization (IMO) are set to vote next week on the adoption of the Net Zero Framework (NZF) agreement aimed at reducing global carbon emissions from the shipping sector.

Washington, however, described the proposal as imposing “a global carbon tax on the world.”

Since returning to power in January, US President Donald Trump has reversed Washington’s course on climate change, denouncing it as a “scam” and encouraging fossil fuel use by deregulation.

In the statement, Rubio, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the Trump administration “unequivocally rejects” the NZF proposal.

They threatened a range of punishing actions against countries that vote in favor of the framework, including: visa restrictions; blocking vessels registered in those countries from US ports; imposing commercial penalties; and considering sanctions on officials.

“The United States will be moving to levy these remedies against nations that sponsor this European-led neocolonial export of global climate regulations,” the statement said.