This list brings together 54 countries in Africa and their capitals for quick reference. It includes the continent’s island countries and explains the cases where a capital’s legal status differs from the location of government institutions.
Historical globe used for illustration, not as a current political map. It labels the Democratic Republic of the Congo as Zaire and predates South Sudan’s independence.
The table covers the 54 African countries that are members of the United Nations. It counts each country once, even when capital functions are divided between cities. Dependent territories and entities outside UN membership are excluded. The African Union’s 55-member list also includes the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, so its total follows a different membership rule.
List of 54 Countries in Africa and Their Capitals
Checked November 9, 2026. UNdata’s 2025 country profiles provide the baseline; newer official evidence and capital-function notes qualify that reference. This is an alphabetical lookup list, not a ranking. The count follows UN membership rather than a judgment about every disputed territory. Membership and capital designations can change.
| Country | Capital or capital functions |
|---|---|
| Algeria | Algiers |
| Angola | Luanda |
| Benin | Porto-Novo [note] |
| Botswana | Gaborone |
| Burkina Faso | Ouagadougou |
| Burundi | Gitega [note] |
| Cabo Verde | Praia |
| Cameroon | Yaoundé |
| Central African Republic | Bangui |
| Chad | N'Djamena |
| Comoros | Moroni |
| Congo (Republic of the Congo) | Brazzaville |
| Côte d’Ivoire | Yamoussoukro [note] |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | Kinshasa |
| Djibouti | Djibouti |
| Egypt | Cairo (constitutional capital) [note] |
| Equatorial Guinea | Ciudad de la Paz [note] |
| Eritrea | Asmara |
| Eswatini | Mbabane (administrative); Lobamba (royal and legislative) [note] |
| Ethiopia | Addis Ababa |
| Gabon | Libreville |
| The Gambia | Banjul |
| Ghana | Accra |
| Guinea | Conakry |
| Guinea-Bissau | Bissau |
| Kenya | Nairobi |
| Lesotho | Maseru |
| Liberia | Monrovia |
| Libya | Tripoli |
| Madagascar | Antananarivo |
| Malawi | Lilongwe |
| Mali | Bamako |
| Mauritania | Nouakchott |
| Mauritius | Port Louis |
| Morocco | Rabat |
| Mozambique | Maputo |
| Namibia | Windhoek |
| Niger | Niamey |
| Nigeria | Abuja |
| Rwanda | Kigali |
| São Tomé and Príncipe | São Tomé |
| Senegal | Dakar |
| Seychelles | Victoria |
| Sierra Leone | Freetown |
| Somalia | Mogadishu |
| South Africa | Pretoria (administrative); Cape Town (legislative); Bloemfontein (judicial) [note] |
| South Sudan | Juba |
| Sudan | Khartoum |
| Tanzania | Dodoma [note] |
| Togo | Lomé |
| Tunisia | Tunis |
| Uganda | Kampala |
| Zambia | Lusaka |
| Zimbabwe | Harare |
Capital Roles and Recent Changes
A country’s capital, government seat and economic center need not be the same place. The following notes explain the entries where a single city name can hide an important distinction.
Equatorial Guinea: Ciudad de la Paz Replaces Malabo
Equatorial Guinea declared Ciudad de la Paz its capital on January 2, 2026, replacing Malabo. Designation and relocation are separate steps: an October 2026 government report still described preparations for ministry-building tenders. The new capital’s name does not mean every institution had already completed its move.
South Africa: Three Capital Functions
South Africa’s government identifies Pretoria as administrative capital, Cape Town as legislative capital and Bloemfontein as judicial capital. Bloemfontein houses the Supreme Court of Appeal, while the Constitutional Court is in Johannesburg. The three-capital shorthand does not place all national courts in one city.
Benin: Porto-Novo and Cotonou
Porto-Novo is Benin’s official capital. Cotonou is the seat of government and economic center, as explained by Benin’s national portal. Both cities matter, but their roles are different.
Côte d’Ivoire: Yamoussoukro and Abidjan
Yamoussoukro is the political capital. Abidjan remains the economic capital, according to the Ivorian embassy in France.
Eswatini: Mbabane and Lobamba
Mbabane is the administrative capital. Lobamba has royal and legislative functions. The Southern African Development Community lists both, so the table keeps them together in one country row.
Burundi: Gitega and Bujumbura
Gitega has been Burundi’s political capital since 2019. Bujumbura is its economic capital. This distinction appears in the Prime Minister’s Office country profile.
Egypt: Cairo and the New Government Seat
Cairo remains the constitutional capital under Article 222. The New Capital, east of Cairo, serves as the seat of government. The UK government’s 2026 geographical factfile identifies The New Capital as the seat of government. Moving ministries does not, by itself, change the constitutional wording.
Tanzania: Dodoma and Dar es Salaam
Dodoma is Tanzania’s capital. Dar es Salaam is its commercial capital, as stated by Tanzania’s embassy in Washington. Dodoma should not be described merely as a proposed future capital.
Explore Other Country and Capital Lists
What Did We Learn Today?
This list covers the 54 African UN member states; the African Union’s 55-member total follows a different membership rule. A capital is not always a country’s largest city or the location of every government institution. South Africa divides capital functions among three cities, while Porto-Novo and Cotonou serve different roles in Benin. Equatorial Guinea’s 2026 capital designation also shows why a change in legal status should not be confused with a completed administrative move.
Sources & Data Notes
The 54 country–capital pairs were checked on November 9, 2026 against individual UNdata 2025 profiles, with newer official sources taking precedence for changes. English conventional names and selected local diacritics are used. The table is a capital reference, not a map of territorial claims or a statement that all institutions operate in the named city.
- UN Dag Hammarskjöld Library: African countries in the UN and African Union member states: the 54-versus-55 membership distinction. The AU list is used for membership, not as the capital baseline.
- UNdata country profiles: all 54 profiles were consulted. The 2025 Equatorial Guinea profile still lists Malabo, so the 2026 government announcement linked above supersedes it.
- Equatorial Guinea government announcement, January 2, 2026: Ciudad de la Paz’s designation. Later government reporting distinguishes this from completion of institutional relocation.
- South African Government: South Africa at a glance and Department of Justice: courts: the three capital functions and the two courts’ locations.
- Egyptian embassy: constitutional text, Article 222 and the UK PCGN Egypt factfile, 2026: constitutional capital versus government seat. The embassy’s English rendering is an unofficial translation.
The country-specific official and intergovernmental references linked in the notes support the remaining capital-role distinctions. A change of legal designation does not establish a completed administrative move; this page does not assign an unverified relocation deadline.
