How some African countries were named by their colonial masters before independence

All of Africa’s 54 countries except Liberia and Ethiopia were colonized by western powers until 1957 when Ghana set the precedence by gaining its independence from Britain.

Most of these countries upon imperialism were named by their colonial masters and this remained so until they gained independence.

Face2Face Africa takes you back to the colonial names of some sub-Saharan African countries before they gained their independence. Take a look at them below:

Nyasaland – Malawi

Urundi – Burundi

Upper Volta – Burkina Faso

Kamerun – Cameroon

Spanish Guinea – Equatorial Guinea

Spanish Sahara – Western Sahara

South West Africa – Namibia

Tanganyika – Tanzania 

Basutoland – Lesotho

French Sudan – Mali

Southern Rhodesia – Zimbabwe

Northern Rhodesia – Zambia

British Somaliland/ Italian Somaliland – Somalia

French Somaliland – Djibouti

Union of South Africa – South Africa

Gold Coast – Ghana

Bechuanaland – Botswana 

Belgian Congo – Democratic Republic of Congo 

Dahomey – Benin