Africanization

All you want to know about Africanization

Africanization (lit., making something African or Africanized) has been applied in various contexts, notably in naming and in the composition of staff.

1 Africanization of names
- 1.1 Examples
  - 1.1.1 Personal names
  - 1.1.2 Place names
2 Africanization of civil services
3 References

Africanization of names

Africanization has referred to the modification of place names and personal names to reflect an "African" identity. In some cases, changes are not a change of transliteration rather than of the European name.^[1]

It is worth noting that in many cases during the colonial period, African place names were Anglicized or Francized.

Examples

Personal names

Joseph-Désiré Mobutu changed to Mobutu Sese Seko
François Tombalbaye changed to N'Garta Tombalbaye
Étienne Eyadéma changed to Gnassingbé Eyadéma
Francisco Macías Nguema changed to Masie Nguema Biyogo Ñegue Ndong

Place names

Fernando Po island changed to Bioko Island
Léopoldville changed to Kinshasa
Salisbury changed to Harare
Lourenço Marques changed to Maputo
Nova Lisboa changed to Huambo
Bechuanaland changed to Botswana
Gold Coast changed to Ghana
Rhodesia changed to Zambia and Zimbabwe
Nyasaland changed to Malawi
Fort Lamy changed to N'Djaména
Tananarive changed to Antananarivo
Bathurst changed to Banjul
Many names of European origin in South Africa have undergone Africanization since 1994, see South African Geographical Names Council.

Other name changes take place when an African person converts to another religion. Examples:

Albert-Bernard Bongo changed to Omar Bongo
David Jawara changed to Dawda Jawara
Jean-Bédel Bokassa changed to Salah Eddine Ahmed Bokassa

Africanization of civil services

In some countries immediately following their independence, "Africanization" was the name given to efforts to increase the number of Africans in civil service (replacing Europeans).^[2]

References

^ Edgar A. Gregersen (1977). Language in Africa: An Introductory Survey. CRC Press. ISBN 0677043805.
^ Adedeji, Adebayo. "Comparative strategies of economic decolonization of Africa." In Ali AlʼAmin Mazrui and Christophe Wondji, eds. Africa Since 1935. UNESCO

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