Here are the most significant "firsts" in African presidential history:
1. The Very First President in African History
Joseph Jenkins Roberts (Liberia, 1848)
Liberia was the first African republic to declare independence (in 1847). Joseph Jenkins Roberts, an African-American who had emigrated to Liberia, was sworn in as its first president in 1848. However, because Liberia was founded as a colony for freed slaves, some historians distinguish between this and the "post-colonial" era of the 1960s.
2. The First President of the "Independence Era"
Kwame Nkrumah (Ghana, 1960)
Ghana was the first sub-Saharan African country to break free from colonial rule (Britain) in 1957. Nkrumah served as Prime Minister first, but when Ghana became a republic in 1960, he became its first president. He is widely considered the "Father of Pan-Africanism."
1. The Very First President in African History
Joseph Jenkins Roberts (Liberia, 1848)
Liberia was the first African republic to declare independence (in 1847). Joseph Jenkins Roberts, an African-American who had emigrated to Liberia, was sworn in as its first president in 1848. However, because Liberia was founded as a colony for freed slaves, some historians distinguish between this and the "post-colonial" era of the 1960s.
2. The First President of the "Independence Era"
Kwame Nkrumah (Ghana, 1960)
Ghana was the first sub-Saharan African country to break free from colonial rule (Britain) in 1957. Nkrumah served as Prime Minister first, but when Ghana became a republic in 1960, he became its first president. He is widely considered the "Father of Pan-Africanism."
