7 Most Racist Countries in Africa

If you are scouting to see what are the most racist countries in Africa, you are in the right place. Racism in Africa has been an issue that existed for several centuries, and it is growing from day to day. It is thought that when African countries were colonized by Europeans, who openly discriminated based on race, racism was instilled in African culture and it remained there ever since.

However, in Africa, racism isn’t primarily based on color, but rather on tribes and it has been the reason for several wars and skirmishes on the continent. Recently, this article reported that Africans are still being discriminated in other countries such as India based on the color of their skin and they are still being humiliated.

The Apartheid era in South Africa is quite famous, or more accurately, infamous of being the most recent systematic attempt to spread racism which lasted for decades before buckling under international pressure. And while South Africa has improved a lot in this regard, it is obvious that you can’t completely move on from such a major policy in just a few decades and hence, remnants of the racism elicited by the Apartheid regime remains, as seen in this article where a South African citizen describes in details the level of racism in South Africa today.

Many believe that since racism has been denounced on a global scale, it does not exist anymore and anyone who believes that it does is either being biased or misled by ‘fake news.’ The truth is, racism persists on a global level and is one of the biggest problems the world is facing now. There can be no unity when racism still abounds, and equality will only remain a dream for those subjected to discrimination based on their race.

Unsurprisingly, Africa isn’t overwhelmingly racist. In fact, there are very few countries which tend to be racist compared to Latin America. If you want to read and learn more about racism in other areas, make sure you check our list of most racist countries in Latin America as well. Since polls and surveys are not conducted on such topics, it is often difficult to determine how racist a country actually is. Hence, we decided to check the World Values Survey Report which asks dozens of countries around the world a variety of questions. One of the questions is ‘Could you please mention any that you would not like to have as neighbors?’ One of the options provided is ‘people of a different race.’ We ranked the countries according to the percentage of individuals who picked this option and filtered out any non-African countries to find out which are the most racist countries in Africa.

7. Rwanda

Percentage of citizens who don’t want to have neighbors from a different race: 3.5%

Even though only a small percentage Rwanda’s population is racist, this doesn’t mean they should get away with it and be allowed to humiliate and hurt others.

6. Zimbabwe

Percentage of citizens who don’t want to have neighbors from a different race: 8.1%

In Zimbabwe that ranks 6th on our list of most racist countries in Africa, it is the white people who have to face racism every day. Even the government is getting involved in this act by taking away farms from white farmers. Despite this, the government is also engaging in ethnic cleansing against white people.

5. Morocco

Percentage of citizens who don’t want to have neighbors from a different race: 13.8%

Morocco is one of the most racist countries in Africa. Here, the racism is focused mainly on migrants, but the NGOs in this country are taking steps to ensure that such racism is stopped from growing.

4. Algeria

Percentage of citizens who don’t want to have neighbors from a different race: 19.8%

Nearly 20% of Algerians are racist, and it will take a lot of work and time to bring the situation in this country in control when it comes to racism.

3. Ghana

Percentage of citizens who don’t want to have neighbors from a different race: 19.9%

Surpassing Algeria by just 0.1%, Ghana earned the unwanted place of being the third most racist country on our list of most racist countries in Africa.

2. Nigeria

Percentage of citizens who don’t want to have neighbors from a different race: 20.9%

More than one-fifth of the Nigeria’s population admitted they want to avoid living with a person of a different race in the same neighborhood. This figure is pretty alarming.

1. Libya

Percentage of citizens who don’t want to have neighbors from a different race: 55.1%

Over half the Libya’s citizens responded that they don’t want a person of a different race to live in their neighborhood, and considering the percentage, it isn’t surprising to see that Libya tops the list of the most racist countries in Africa. It is obvious that a lot of work is required from both the government the Libya’s citizens in order to combat racism and let equality and justice prevail.