Year of Africa: 17 Nations Gain Independence in 1960
1957–1960 · 20th Century
Ghana gained independence on March 6, 1957, when Kwame Nkrumah declared independence before 50,000 people in Accra, making it the first sub-Saharan African country to break from European colonization. In 1960, seventeen additional nations gained independence: Cameroon, Togo, Senegal, Mali, Madagascar, Democratic Republic of Congo, Benin, Niger, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Chad, Central African Republic, Congo-Brazzaville, Gabon, Nigeria, Mauritania, and Somalia. By decade's end, Africa had 48 independent nations. However, instability followed. Patrice Lumumba, Congo's first Prime Minister, was executed in 1961 with alleged Belgian and CIA involvement. Nkrumah was overthrown in 1966.
Key Figures
Kwame NkrumahPatrice Lumumba
Locations
Accra
Topics
Cold WarAfrican nationalismdecolonizationindependence movements
Connected Events — 2 Connections
The wave of African independence in 1960 isolated South Africa's apartheid regime internationally, building the diplomatic pressure that contributed to Mandela's release and 1994 election Nelson Mandela Elected President; End of Apartheid
The 1884 Berlin Conference drew arbitrary colonial borders that 17 African nations dismantled in a single year, though the borders themselves largely persisted Berlin Conference: Europe Partitions Africa
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