The Renaissance of African Citizenship: Black American Stars Connecting with Ancestral Roots

Sun Feb 08 2026 02:56:11 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

African nations are increasingly welcoming Black American celebrities, as a new wave of citizenship granted to stars like Ciara and Samuel L. Jackson highlights a growing reconnection with ancestral roots.

In recent years, a notable trend has emerged as prominent Black American celebrities seek citizenship in African countries. This movement, fueled by a yearning to connect with their ancestral heritage, has seen figures like Ciara and Samuel L. Jackson being granted citizenship in Benin and Gabon, respectively. This phenomenon is viewed as both a personal journey for the stars and an opportunity for African nations to boost tourism and cultural ties. Celebrities participate in lavish citizenship ceremonies and share their experiences on social media, sparking interest among their followers to explore their own roots. However, this trend is not without its criticisms, as some locals express frustration over disparities in the citizenship process.

From Hollywood to the Homeland: Why African Countries Are Courting Black American Stars

Although their forefathers were seized from West and Central Africa centuries ago, the bond between African-Americans and their ancestral home has been a lasting one.

For instance, Liberia, Africa's oldest republic, was founded by freed Black American slaves in 1822. After Ghana became independent in 1957, a wave of Black intellectuals and artists moved there from the US. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and Muhammad Ali subsequently paid high-profile visits to Ghana, while Guinea became home to Black Panther leader Stokely Carmichael.

This transatlantic connection has ebbed and flowed over time - but in recent years, there has been a real resurgence, helped by the use of DNA tests.

A number of Black American celebrities have sought the nationality of African countries - singer Ciara has become a citizen of Benin, rapper Ludacris and film star Samuel L. Jackson are officially Gabonese, actors Meagan Good and Jonathan Majors are citizens of Guinea and musical icon Stevie Wonder has Ghanaian papers.

Just last week, wildly popular content creator IShowSpeed was approved for a Ghanaian passport after stopping in the country on a whirlwind African tour.

The celebs have, in most cases, flown out for elaborate citizenship ceremonies and tours of local beauty spots, all of which have been captured for glossy social media content.

Posting photos of her citizenship ceremony in Guinea, Meagan Good told her 7.8m Instagram followers last month: This is history in motion.

Good, who has featured in films like Think Like A Man and Saw V, and her husband Majors, known for Creed and Marvel flick Ant-Man and the Wasp, became citizens after DNA testing traced their ancestry to Guinea.

This recognition goes beyond titles; it is a homecoming and a reconnection to our Afrodescendant roots, said Good.

Messaging from the various African governments has echoed this sentiment.

In conferring Ghanaian citizenship upon Stevie Wonder, former president Nana Akufo-Addo said at Wonder's 2024 ceremony, we not only extend our warmest embrace to a beloved son of Africa but also reaffirm our belief in the enduring spirit of pan-Africanism and the global African family.

Ghana has long promoted its pan-African credentials - for a decade anyone whose ancestors came from Africa has been entitled to Ghanaian nationality, a policy that arguably inspired Benin to launch a similar scheme.

Ghana also launched the Year of Return in 2019, a buzzy initiative encouraging Africans in the diaspora to relocate there. More than 1,000 African-Americans have done so in the past decade, according to Dr Erieka Bennet, ambassador for the Diaspora African Forum, which helps people relocate to Ghana.

It is not only about romanticism, Marie-Roger Biloa, a Cameroonian journalist with a focus on West Africa, tells the BBC. It's all very much about how can we tap into the potential they have, the Americans.

Tourism is an obvious motivator. Governments hope that social media posts from the stars will encourage other Black Americans, a large group with a growing economic power, to visit and inject money into their countries.

Benin's president, a former business tycoon, is keenly aware that his country's former role as a key departure point for slaves makes it a poignant destination for Black Americans. President [Patrice] Talon has really started investing in cultural heritage to engage African-Americans worldwide, Biloa says.

However, many people from the countries involved recognise the economic and political benefits of giving citizenship to Black American celebrities, but others are more critical. There is an underlying feeling that the stars are bypassing what can be, for those born in the countries, a cumbersome and costly process to get passports.

Despite this, the trend continues to grow, as African nations position themselves to attract diaspora talent and ultimately harness their social and economic benefits.