Recognition of same-sex unions in Africa

Debate has occurred throughout Africa over proposals to legalize same-sex marriage as well as civil unions.

Same-sex sexual activity legal

  Same-sex marriage

  Limited recognition (foreign residency rights)

  No recognition of same-sex couples

Same-sex sexual activity illegal

  Prison but not enforced

  Prison

  Death penalty on books but not enforced

  Enforced death penalty

Countries performing civil unions in Africa

  Gender-neutral civil unions.

  Civil unions never performed.

Currently, South Africa is the only African country that performs and recognises same-sex marriage,^[1] and Namibia is the only other which legally recognizes same-sex marriages performed abroad. In addition, the Spanish regions of the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla, as well as the Portuguese territory of Madeira, the French territories of Mayotte and Réunion and the British Overseas Territory of St. Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha recognize and perform same-sex marriage.

Civil partnerships or de facto unions are also recognized in South Africa, and the French, Spanish and Portuguese territories.

Current situation

National level

Status	Country	Legal since	Country population (Last Census count)
Marriage (1 country)	South Africa	2006	54,956,900
Subtotal	—	—	54,956,900 (4.5% of the African population)
Recognition of foreign marriage (1 country)	Namibia[citation needed]	2023	2,113,077
Subtotal	—	—	2,113,077 (0.17% of the African population)
Subtotal	—	—	57,069,977 (4.67% of the African population)
No recognition (44 countries) * same-sex sexual activity illegal
	Algeria *	—	40,400,000
	Angola	—	25,789,024
	Benin	—	10,872,298
	Botswana	—	2,250,260
	Cameroon *	—	23,439,189
	Cape Verde	—	539,560
	Central African Republic	—	4,594,621
	Chad *	—	13,670,084
	Comoros *	—	795,601
	Djibouti	—	942,333
	Egypt *	—	96,474,100
	Equatorial Guinea	—	1,221,490
	Eritrea *	—	4,954,645
	Eswatini *	—	1,343,098
	Ethiopia *	—	102,403,196
	Gambia *	—	2,051,363
	Ghana *	—	27,043,093
	Guinea *	—	12,395,924
	Guinea-Bissau	—	1,815,698
	Ivory Coast	—	23,740,424
	Lesotho	—	2,203,821
	Liberia *	—	4,503,000
	Libya *	—	6,293,253
	Madagascar	—	24,894,551
	Malawi *	—	18,091,575
	Mauritania *	—	4,301,018
	Mauritius	—	1,262,132
	Morocco *	—	33,848,242
	Mozambique	—	28,829,476
	Niger	—	20,672,987
	Nigeria *	—	185,989,640
	Republic of the Congo	—	5,125,821
	São Tomé and Príncipe	—	199,910
	Senegal *	—	15,411,614
	Seychelles	—	94,228
	Sierra Leone *	—	7,075,641
	Somalia *	—	14,317,996
	South Sudan *	—	12,230,730
	Tanzania *	—	55,572,201
	Togo *	—	7,965,055
	Tunisia *	—	11,304,482
	Zambia *	—	16,591,390
Subtotal	—	—	873,514,764 (70% of the African population)
Constitutional ban on marriage (10 countries) * same-sex sexual activity illegal	Burkina Faso	—	20,107,509
	Burundi *	2005	10,524,117
	Democratic Republic of the Congo	2006	78,736,153
	Gabon	2024	1,979,786
	Kenya *	2010	49,125,325
	Mali *	2023	14,517,176
	Rwanda	2003	11,262,564
	Sudan *	—	39,578,828
	Uganda *	2005	41,487,965
	Zimbabwe *	2013	16,150,362
Subtotal	—	—	283,469,785 (23% of the African population)
Total	—	—	1,214,062,706 (99.6% of the African population)

Partially recognized and unrecognized states

Status	Country	Since	State population (last estimate)
No recognition (2 state) * same-sex sexual activity illegal	Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic *	—	100,000
	Somaliland *	—	3,508,180
Subtotal	—	—	3,608,180 (0.3% of the African population)
Total	—	—	3,608,180 (0.3% of the African population)

Sub-national level

Status	Country	Jurisdiction	Legal since	Jurisdiction population (last census)
Marriage (9 jurisdictions)	France	French Southern and Antarctic Lands	2013	—
		Mayotte	2013	256,518
		Réunion	2013	865,826
	Portugal	Madeira	2010	289,000
	Spain	Canary Islands	2005	2,101,924
		Ceuta	2005	82,376
		Melilla	2005	78,476
	United Kingdom	Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha	2017	5,633
Subtotal	—	—	—	3,679,753 (0.3% of the African population)
Total	—	—	—	3,679,753 (0.3% of the African population)

Public opinion

  Indicates the country/territory has legalised same-sex marriage nationwide

  Indicates that same-sex marriage is legal in certain parts of the country

  Indicates that the country has civil unions or registered partnerships

  Indicates that same-sex sexual activity is illegal

Opinion polls for same-sex marriage by country

Country	Pollster	Year	For	Against	Neutral[a]	Margin of error	Source
Kenya	Pew Research Center	2023	9%	90%	1%	±3.6%	[2]
Mozambique (3 cities)	Lambda	2017	28% (32%)	60% (68%)	12%		[3]
Nigeria	Pew Research Center	2023	2%	97%	1%	±3.6%	[2]
South Africa	Ipsos	2023	57%	29% [10% support some rights]	14%	±3.5% [b]	[4]

See also

• LGBTQ rights in Africa
• Recognition of same-sex unions in the Americas
• Recognition of same-sex unions in Asia
• Recognition of same-sex unions in Europe
• Recognition of same-sex unions in Oceania

Notes

1. Also comprises: Don't know; No answer; Other; Refused.
2. [+ more urban/educated than representative]