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

No recognition of same-sex couples

Same-sex sexual activity illegal

Not Enforced or unclear

Penalty

Life in prison

Death penalty

Currently, South Africa is the only African country that legally recognizes same-sex marriage.[1] In addition, the Spanish territories of the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla, as well as the Portuguese territories of Madeira and the Azores Islands, 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)
No recognition (45 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
	Ethiopia *	—	102,403,196
	Gabon *	—	1,979,786
	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
	Mali	—	14,517,176
	Mauritania *	—	4,301,018
	Mauritius *	—	1,262,132
	Morocco *	—	33,848,242
	Mozambique	—	28,829,476
	Namibia *	—	2,113,077
	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
	Swaziland *	—	1,343,098
	Tanzania *	—	55,572,201
	Togo *	—	7,965,055
	Tunisia *	—	11,304,482
	Zambia *	—	16,591,390
Subtotal	—	—	892,132,983 (73.2% of the African population)
Constitutional ban on marriage ( 8 countries) * same-sex sexual activity illegal	Burkina Faso	—	20,107,509
	Burundi *	—	10,524,117
	Democratic Republic of the Congo	—	78,736,153
	Kenya *	—	49,125,325
	Rwanda	—	11,262,564
	Sudan *	—	39,578,828
	Uganda *	—	41,487,965
	Zimbabwe *	—	16,150,362
Subtotal	—	—	266,972,823 (21.9% 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 count)
No recognition (2 state) * same-sex sexual activity illegal	Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic *	—	100,000
No recognition (2 state) * same-sex sexual activity illegal	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 count)
Marriage (9 jurisdictions)	France	French Southern and Antarctic Lands	2013	—
		Mayotte	2013	256,518
		Réunion	2013	865,826
	Portugal	Azores	2010	246,772
	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	—	—	—	3,926,525 (0.3% of the African population)
Total	—	—	—	3,926,525 (0.3% of the African population)

Legislative proposals and court challenges

Mauritius: In 2016, the Law Reform Commission was looking into a case to legalise same-sex marriage.[2]

Namibia: Several court cases pertaining to the recognition of same-sex marriages performed in South Africa await a verdict from the High Court.[3]

References

"Same-Sex Unions to Become Legal in South Africa". New York Times. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
"AFROBAROMETER REPORT SHOWS THAT HOMOPHOBIA IS NOT AFRICAN EVEN IF HOMOPHOBIA REMAINS WIDESPREAD IN AFRICA". Young Queer Alliance.
"Same-sex couples join forces". Namibian Sun. 5 September 2019.

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[1] "Same-Sex Unions to Become Legal in South Africa". New York Times. Retrieved February 5, 2018.

[2] "AFROBAROMETER REPORT SHOWS THAT HOMOPHOBIA IS NOT AFRICAN EVEN IF HOMOPHOBIA REMAINS WIDESPREAD IN AFRICA". Young Queer Alliance.

[3] "Same-sex couples join forces". Namibian Sun. 5 September 2019.