Africa — Countries, Capitals & Currencies

Why This Chapter Matters

Africa questions show up in every second SSC or RRB geography paper, usually as a straight one-liner: "capital of Ethiopia" or "currency of Ghana." Easy marks, if you have the map in your head. Easy marks lost, if you don't, because Africa has 54 countries and most aspirants freeze the moment a name sounds unfamiliar. This chapter fixes that by grouping the continent into five regions the way exam-setters actually think about it, so you are never memorising 54 random facts, you are memorising five short lists.

The single biggest mistake aspirants make here is mixing up Congo (Republic of the Congo), capital Brazzaville, with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), capital Kinshasa. Both sit on the same river, both were French or Belgian colonies, and exam-setters love this pair precisely because it trips up people who studied fast and skimmed. You will see this trap twice more in this chapter, so pay attention the first time and you will not fall for it later.

North Africa

North Africa sits along the Mediterranean coast and the Sahara's northern edge. These seven countries share a common thread: Arabic is widely spoken, Islam is the majority religion, and most currencies carry the word "Dinar" or "Pound," a hangover from old trade and colonial links.

Exam trap: Do not confuse Sudan (capital Khartoum) with South Sudan (capital Juba). South Sudan split from Sudan in 2011 and is the world's youngest country, a fact examiners ask directly almost every year.

Country	Capital	Currency
Egypt	Cairo	Egyptian Pound
Libya	Tripoli	Libyan Dinar
Tunisia	Tunis	Tunisian Dinar
Algeria	Algiers	Algerian Dinar
Morocco	Rabat	Moroccan Dirham
Sudan	Khartoum	Sudanese Pound
South Sudan	Juba	South Sudanese Pound

Memory hook: Read the capitals down the list and notice four of the seven end in a soft vowel sound close to their country name: Tunisia-Tunis, Algeria-Algiers, Libya-Tripoli (the odd one out), Egypt-Cairo. Learn the two exceptions, Egypt and Libya, first, because they are asked the most, and the other five will stick by pattern alone.

Egypt deserves special attention beyond the table. Cairo sits on the Nile, and Egypt's economy leans heavily on the Suez Canal, which you will study in detail in the waterways chapter. If you have seen a photograph of the pyramids at Giza, you already have a mental anchor for Cairo, use it.

West Africa

West Africa is the most crowded region on the continent, sixteen countries packed into a bulge of land facing the Atlantic. Think of it as a marketplace lane in an old bazaar: stalls of different sizes standing shoulder to shoulder, most of them trading in the same currency because it is simply more convenient than each one minting its own coin.

That currency is the CFA Franc, used by eight of these countries as part of the West African Economic and Monetary Union. It is pegged to the Euro and shared the way several shopkeepers on one street might agree to accept the same coupon. Knowing which countries use it, versus which ones broke away and issue their own money (Nigeria's Naira, Ghana's Cedi, Sierra Leone's Leone, Liberia's Dollar, Gambia's Dalasi, Guinea's Franc, Cape Verde's Escudo), is a favourite exam distinction.

Country	Capital	Currency
Nigeria	Abuja	Naira
Ghana	Accra	Cedi
Senegal	Dakar	CFA Franc (West African)
Mali	Bamako	CFA Franc (West African)
Niger	Niamey	CFA Franc (West African)
Burkina Faso	Ouagadougou	CFA Franc (West African)
Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire)	Yamoussoukro	CFA Franc (West African)
Guinea	Conakry	Guinean Franc
Sierra Leone	Freetown	Leone
Liberia	Monrovia	Liberian Dollar
Togo	Lome	CFA Franc (West African)
Benin	Porto-Novo	CFA Franc (West African)
Gambia	Banjul	Dalasi
Guinea-Bissau	Bissau	CFA Franc (West African)
Cape Verde	Praia	Cabo Verde Escudo
Mauritania	Nouakchott	Ouguiya

Exam trap: Nigeria's capital is Abuja, not Lagos. Lagos is the largest city and former capital, but the seat of government moved to Abuja in 1991. This is one of the most commonly asked "wrong option" traps in Africa geography, because Lagos is the name every aspirant has heard of first.

Another one worth flagging: Ivory Coast's official capital is Yamoussoukro, though its largest city and main port, Abidjan, hosts most embassies and government offices in practice. Exams ask for the official capital, so lock in Yamoussoukro.

Memory hook: For the eight CFA Franc users, think of the phrase "Same Money, Many Neighbours" — Senegal, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Togo, Benin, Guinea-Bissau all sit next to each other on the map and all pass the same currency across their shared borders like neighbours sharing sugar.

East Africa

East Africa runs from the Horn of Africa down through the Great Rift Valley countries. This is the region of the source of the Nile, Mount Kilimanjaro, and some of the fastest-growing economies on the continent, so it appears frequently in current-affairs-linked static GK questions too.

Country	Capital	Currency
Kenya	Nairobi	Kenyan Shilling
Ethiopia	Addis Ababa	Ethiopian Birr
Tanzania	Dodoma	Tanzanian Shilling
Uganda	Kampala	Ugandan Shilling
Rwanda	Kigali	Rwandan Franc
Burundi	Gitega	Burundian Franc
Somalia	Mogadishu	Somali Shilling
Djibouti	Djibouti	Djiboutian Franc
Eritrea	Asmara	Nakfa

Exam trap: Tanzania's official capital is Dodoma, but its largest city and commercial hub, Dar es Salaam, is where most government offices and foreign embassies actually sit, much like Ivory Coast's situation above. If a question says "seat of parliament," the answer is Dodoma; if it says "largest city," it is Dar es Salaam. Read the question word for word.

Notice the "Shilling" cluster: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Somalia all use a currency called the Shilling, but each is a separate, non-interchangeable currency issued by that country's own central bank. This mirrors how several South Asian nations use "Rupee" as a currency name without those rupees being the same money, a comparison worth holding onto because SSC papers test both regions with the identical trick.

Ethiopia stands out for never having been colonised (apart from a brief Italian occupation), and Addis Ababa hosts the headquarters of the African Union, which we cover in its own section below. That single fact, "AU headquarters in Addis Ababa," is asked on its own almost as often as Ethiopia's capital itself.

Central Africa

Central Africa is smaller in country count but dense with exam traps, mainly because of the Congo naming confusion flagged at the start of this chapter. Read this section slowly.

Country	Capital	Currency
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo)	Kinshasa	Congolese Franc
Republic of the Congo	Brazzaville	CFA Franc (Central African)
Cameroon	Yaounde	CFA Franc (Central African)
Central African Republic	Bangui	CFA Franc (Central African)
Chad	N'Djamena	CFA Franc (Central African)
Gabon	Libreville	CFA Franc (Central African)
Equatorial Guinea	Malabo	CFA Franc (Central African)
Angola	Luanda	Kwanza

Exam trap: DR Congo (capital Kinshasa) and Republic of Congo (capital Brazzaville) face each other across the Congo River, close enough that on some maps the two capital cities appear to touch. DR Congo is the larger country by both area and population, and it is Africa's second-largest country overall after Algeria. If an option says just "Congo" without "Democratic Republic," read the rest of the question carefully; setters use this ambiguity on purpose.

Memory hook: Picture the Congo River as a train platform with two stations facing each other, Kinshasa on one side, Brazzaville on the other, and remember that the "Democratic Republic" ticket takes you to Kinshasa, the shorter-named "Republic" ticket takes you to Brazzaville.

Note also that six of Central Africa's eight countries share the Central African CFA Franc, a separate currency zone from West Africa's CFA Franc despite the identical name and peg to the Euro. They are not interchangeable across the two zones, another fact worth a mental flag.

Southern Africa

Southern Africa closes out the mainland regions and adds the island nations of the Indian Ocean, which many students forget belong to Africa at all.

Country	Capital	Currency
South Africa	Pretoria (administrative), Cape Town (legislative), Bloemfontein (judicial)	Rand
Zimbabwe	Harare	ZiG (Zimbabwe Gold; US Dollar widely used alongside it)
Zambia	Lusaka	Zambian Kwacha
Mozambique	Maputo	Metical
Botswana	Gaborone	Pula
Namibia	Windhoek	Namibian Dollar
Malawi	Lilongwe	Malawian Kwacha
Lesotho	Maseru	Loti
Eswatini	Mbabane	Lilangeni
Madagascar	Antananarivo	Malagasy Ariary
Mauritius	Port Louis	Mauritian Rupee
Seychelles	Victoria	Seychellois Rupee
Comoros	Moroni	Comorian Franc

Exam trap: South Africa is the classic "three capitals" question. Pretoria is the administrative capital (executive, where the President's office sits), Cape Town is the legislative capital (where Parliament meets), and Bloemfontein is the judicial capital (Supreme Court of Appeal). Exams most often want Pretoria as the plain-vanilla answer to "capital of South Africa," but a well-set question will specifically ask which one holds Parliament, so know all three, not just one.

Memory hook: "Pretoria Plans, Cape Town Creates law, Bloemfontein Balances justice" — Plans (administration), Creates (legislature), Balances (judiciary), in that P-C-B order matching Pretoria-Cape Town-Bloemfontein.

Zambia and Zimbabwe both border the mighty Zambezi River and share the Victoria Falls, one of the world's largest waterfalls, split roughly between the two countries. This is a natural bridge into the physical superlatives chapter later in this book, so remember the river name now.

Lesotho and Eswatini are worth a special note: both are tiny, landlocked kingdoms. Lesotho is completely surrounded by South Africa, one of only three countries in the world entirely enclosed within a single other nation (the others being San Marino and Vatican City inside Italy). This exact fact is a recurring "which country is surrounded by another country" MCQ.

The African Union — Basics You Must Know

The African Union (AU) replaced the older Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 2002 and now includes all 54 recognised African states, plus the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, whose status remains disputed by some members. Its headquarters sits in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the same city flagged earlier in the East Africa section, so that one fact now anchors two different exam angles: Ethiopia's capital and the AU's headquarters.

Think of the AU the way you think of a large joint family council, an umbrella body that tries to keep 55 very different households talking to each other on trade, peacekeeping, and development, even when they disagree on almost everything else. That is genuinely how African regional politics works in practice, and the analogy makes the AU's coordinating (not commanding) role easier to remember than a dry definition would.

A notable recent development for current-affairs overlap: the African Union was admitted as a permanent member of the G20 in 2023, placed alongside the European Union as the only two regional-bloc members of that grouping. This is the kind of fact that bridges static GK and current affairs, so hold onto it.

Quick facts table:

Feature	Detail
Founded	2002 (as successor to OAU, founded 1963)
Headquarters	Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Member countries	54 (all African states recognised by AU)
Official languages	Arabic, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Swahili
G20 status	Permanent member since 2023

Quick Revision — One-Line Facts

• Africa has 54 recognised sovereign countries, more than any other continent.
• Egypt's capital is Cairo, on the banks of the Nile.
• Nigeria's capital is Abuja, not Lagos, which is only the largest city.
• South Sudan, capital Juba, became independent from Sudan in 2011, the world's newest widely-recognised country.
• DR Congo's capital is Kinshasa; the Republic of Congo's capital is Brazzaville, across the river.
• Eight West African nations and six Central African nations use versions of the CFA Franc, pegged to the Euro.
• Ethiopia was never colonised and hosts the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa.
• Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Somalia each issue their own separate Shilling currency.
• South Africa has three capitals: Pretoria (administrative), Cape Town (legislative), Bloemfontein (judicial).
• Lesotho is one of only three countries entirely surrounded by a single other country, here South Africa.
• Ivory Coast's official capital is Yamoussoukro, though Abidjan is the larger, better-known city.
• Tanzania's official capital is Dodoma, while Dar es Salaam remains its commercial hub.
• Ghana's capital is Accra, currency the Cedi.
• Morocco's capital is Rabat, currency the Dirham.
• Algeria is Africa's largest country by area; DR Congo is second.
• Zambia and Zimbabwe share the Victoria Falls on the Zambezi River.
• Cape Verde, Mauritius, Seychelles, Comoros, and Madagascar are Africa's main island nations.
• Sierra Leone's currency is the Leone; Liberia's is the Liberian Dollar.
• Angola's currency is the Kwanza; capital Luanda.
• Botswana's currency is the Pula; capital Gaborone.
• Namibia's capital is Windhoek; currency the Namibian Dollar.
• Eritrea's capital is Asmara; currency the Nakfa.
• Rwanda's capital is Kigali; currency the Rwandan Franc.
• Djibouti shares its name with its own capital city, an easy but often-tested pattern.
• Mauritania's currency, the Ouguiya, is one of the few in the world not decimalised in base 10 in its traditional form.
• Zimbabwe abandoned its own hyperinflation-hit dollar for years in favour of foreign currencies, and in April 2024 launched a new gold-backed currency, the ZiG (Zimbabwe Gold), which now circulates alongside the US Dollar.
• The African Union was founded in 2002, replacing the Organisation of African Unity (1963).
• The African Union became a permanent G20 member in 2023.
• Gambia's currency is the Dalasi; it is the smallest mainland African country by area.
• Chad's capital, N'Djamena, sits on the border with Cameroon.
• Madagascar, the world's fourth-largest island, has Antananarivo as its capital and the Ariary as currency.

Memory Tables

Table 1: Region-wise Quick Capital & Currency Snapshot (most-asked country per region)

Region	Most-asked country	Capital	Currency
North Africa	Egypt	Cairo	Egyptian Pound
West Africa	Nigeria	Abuja	Naira
East Africa	Kenya / Ethiopia	Nairobi / Addis Ababa	Shilling / Birr
Central Africa	DR Congo	Kinshasa	Congolese Franc
Southern Africa	South Africa	Pretoria / Cape Town / Bloemfontein	Rand

Table 2: The Confusable Pairs — Do Not Mix These Up

Pair	Country A	Country B	The distinguishing fact
Congo twins	DR Congo — Kinshasa	Republic of Congo — Brazzaville	DR Congo is larger, former Belgian colony; Republic of Congo was French
Sudan split	Sudan — Khartoum	South Sudan — Juba	South Sudan broke away in 2011
Guinea trio	Guinea — Conakry	Guinea-Bissau — Bissau	Guinea-Bissau is the smaller, former Portuguese colony
Congo vs Congo River route	Kinshasa	Brazzaville	Face each other across the same river
Multi-capital states	South Africa	(three capitals)	Administrative, legislative, judicial split

Practice MCQs

Q1. What is the capital of Egypt? (a) Alexandria (b) Cairo (c) Giza (d) Luxor

Q2. Nigeria's capital city is: (a) Lagos (b) Kano (c) Abuja (d) Ibadan

Q3. Which currency is used in Ghana? (a) Naira (b) Cedi (c) Dalasi (d) Leone

Q4. Kenya's capital is: (a) Mombasa (b) Nairobi (c) Kisumu (d) Nakuru

Q5. The African Union has its headquarters in: (a) Nairobi (b) Cairo (c) Addis Ababa (d) Pretoria

Q6. What is the capital of Morocco? (a) Casablanca (b) Marrakesh (c) Rabat (d) Tangier

Q7. South Sudan, the world's newest widely recognised country, became independent from Sudan in which year? (a) 2008 (b) 2010 (c) 2011 (d) 2013

Q8. Which of these is the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo? (a) Brazzaville (b) Kinshasa (c) Kigali (d) Bujumbura

Q9. South Africa's legislative capital, where Parliament meets, is: (a) Pretoria (b) Bloemfontein (c) Johannesburg (d) Cape Town

Q10. Which country's official capital is Yamoussoukro, though its larger city Abidjan is more commonly known? (a) Ghana (b) Ivory Coast (c) Senegal (d) Benin

Q11. The CFA Franc used by several West African nations is pegged to which currency? (a) US Dollar (b) British Pound (c) Euro (d) South African Rand

Q12. Which African country is entirely surrounded by South Africa? (a) Eswatini (b) Lesotho (c) Botswana (d) Namibia

Q13. The Victoria Falls, on the Zambezi River, lies on the border of which two countries? (a) Kenya and Tanzania (b) Zambia and Zimbabwe (c) Botswana and Namibia (d) Malawi and Mozambique

Q14. Which African country was admitted as a permanent member of the G20 in 2023? (a) Nigeria (b) South Africa (c) The African Union (d) Egypt

Q15. Tanzania's official capital, distinct from its commercial hub Dar es Salaam, is: (a) Zanzibar (b) Arusha (c) Dodoma (d) Mwanza

Answer Key

Q	Answer	Reason
1	(b) Cairo	Cairo is Egypt's capital and largest city, on the Nile; Alexandria and Giza are other major cities, not the capital.
2	(c) Abuja	Abuja replaced Lagos as Nigeria's capital in 1991; Lagos remains the largest city and a favourite wrong option.
3	(b) Cedi	Ghana's currency is the Cedi; Naira is Nigeria's, Dalasi is Gambia's, Leone is Sierra Leone's.
4	(b) Nairobi	Nairobi is Kenya's capital and largest city, unlike Tanzania where the capital and largest city differ.
5	(c) Addis Ababa	The AU headquarters sits in Ethiopia's capital, linking two facts examiners test together.
6	(c) Rabat	Rabat is Morocco's political capital; Casablanca is the largest city and commercial centre.
7	(c) 2011	South Sudan split from Sudan in 2011 after a referendum, making it the world's youngest country.
8	(b) Kinshasa	Kinshasa is DR Congo's capital; Brazzaville belongs to the separate Republic of the Congo across the river.
9	(d) Cape Town	Cape Town holds Parliament (legislative capital); Pretoria is administrative and Bloemfontein is judicial.
10	(b) Ivory Coast	Yamoussoukro is Ivory Coast's official capital by law, though Abidjan hosts most embassies and offices.
11	(c) Euro	The West and Central African CFA Francs are both pegged to the Euro, a leftover of French colonial monetary policy.
12	(b) Lesotho	Lesotho is one of only three countries in the world fully enclosed within a single other nation, here South Africa.
13	(b) Zambia and Zimbabwe	Victoria Falls sits on the Zambezi River, forming a natural border and shared attraction between the two.
14	(c) The African Union	The AU, not any single country, joined the G20 as a permanent bloc member in 2023, alongside the EU.
15	(c) Dodoma	Dodoma is Tanzania's official seat of government; Dar es Salaam remains the larger commercial city, a frequent exam trap.