Founding fathers

The following list of national founding figures is a record, by country, of people who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e., political system form of government, and constitution), of the country. They can also be military leaders of a war of independence that led to the establishment of a sovereign state.

Africa

Algeria

Ahmed Ben Bella served as first Prime Minister of Algeria from 1962 to 1963, then as first President of Algeria from 1963 to 1965.

Angola

Agostinho Neto served as first President of Angola from 1975 to 1979.

Benin

Hubert Maga served as first President of Dahomey from 1960 to 1963.

Botswana

Seretse Khama served as first President of Botswana from 1966 to 1980.

Burkina Faso

Thomas Sankara served as first President of Burkina Faso from 1983 to 1987.

Burundi

Michel Micombero was the first President of Burundi from 1966 to 1976

Cameroon

Ahmadou Ahidjo served as first President of Cameroon from 1960 to 1982.

Cape Verde

Amílcar Cabral (var. Amílcar Lopes da Costa Cabral) (1924–1973) was an agricultural engineer, writer, and a nationalist thinker and political leader. He was also one of Africa's foremost anti-colonial leaders. Amílcar Cabral led the nationalist movement of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde Islands and the ensuing war of independence in Guinea-Bissau. He was assassinated on 20 January 1973, several months before Guinea-Bissau's unilateral declaration of independence. He is considered a founder of Cape Verde. Aristides Pereira served as first President of Cape Verde from 1975 to 1991.

Central African Republic

David Dacko served as first President of Central African Republic from 1960 to 1966. The constitution outlines him as being the "Founding Father."

Chad

François Tombalbaye served as first President of Chad from 1960 to 1975.

Comoros

Ahmed Abdallah (State of the Comoros; First president of the Federal and Islamic Republic of the Comoros) Ali Soilih (State of the Comoros; First president) Azali Assoumani (Union of the Comoros)

Republic of the Congo

Fulbert Youlou served as first President of the Republic of the Congo from 1960 to 1963.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Patrice Lumumba, Joseph Kasa-Vubu, Albert Kalonji, Jean Bolikango, Cléophas Kamitatu, and Paul Bolya are all considered "Fathers of Independence" in the Congo.

Djibouti

Hassan Gouled Aptidon served as first President of Djibouti from 1977 to 1999.

Egypt

There is no agreed founder of Egypt as the area was politically unified around 3000 BC and has since endured multiple changes in terms of government and polities.

The prevailing historical view is that Muhammad Ali (1769–1849) is the Father of Modern Egypt, being the first ruler since the Ottoman conquest in 1517 to permanently divest the Porte of its power in Egypt. While failing to achieve formal independence for Egypt during his lifetime, he was successful in laying the foundation for a modern Egyptian state.

The Founder of Independent Egypt, Saad Zaghloul (1859–1927), was a politician who served in many ministries of the Egyptian government, and was imprisoned by the British government in Malta, but returned to Egypt to participate in the revolution of 1919. Zaghloul then was able to make the Sultan of Egypt (later King) Fuad I convince the British to grant Egypt independence with a friendly British-Egyptian relationship and in 1922, Egypt was proclaimed an independent kingdom, the Kingdom of Egypt with Saad Zaghloul as its prime minister. British military presence in Egypt ended with nationalisation of Suez Canal in 1956.

Equatorial Guinea

Francisco Macías Nguema served as first President of Equatorial Guinea from 1968 to 1979.

Eritrea

Isaias Afwerki serves as first President of Eritrea from 1993 to present.

Eswatini

Ethiopia

Menelik I is claimed to be first the first Emperor of Ethiopia during the 10th century B.C (975–950 B.C). Yekuno Amlak founded the Solomonic dynasty and was the first emperor of the Ethiopian Empire from 1270 to 1285 A.D.
Menelik II is the founder of modern Ethiopian state.

Gabon

Léon M'ba served as first President of Gabon from 1961 to 1967.

The Gambia

Dawda Jawara served as first Prime Minister of the Gambia from 1962 to 1970. Independence from United Kingdom was achieved in 1965.

Ghana

Kwame Nkrumah (1909–1972) led the nation to its independence from the United Kingdom in 1957.

Guinea

Ahmed Sékou Touré (var. Ahmed Seku Turay) (1922–1984) was a Guinean political leader and President of Guinea from 1958 to his death in 1984. Touré was one of the primary Guinean nationalists involved in the independence of the country from France.

He is with Kwame Nkrumah one of the founders of the African Union, and the Guinean Diallo Telli was the first general secretary of the African Union.

Guinea-Bissau

Luís Cabral served as first President of Guinea-Bissau from 1973 to 1980.

Ivory Coast

Félix Houphouët-Boigny served as first President of Ivory Coast from 1960 to 1993.

Kenya

Jomo Kenyatta served as the first Prime Minister (1963–1964) and President (1964–1978) of the Republic. Oginga Odinga served as the first vice-president.

Lesotho

Leabua Jonathan served as Prime Minister of Lesotho from 1965 to 1986. Independence from United Kingdom was achieved in 1966.

Liberia

Joseph Jenkins Roberts (1809–1876) was born a free man of African American descent. He migrated to Liberia in 1829 with his family to join
thousands of other African Americans resettled from 1820 based on efforts of the American Colonization Society. In 1839, Roberts became Liberia's lieutenant governor and afterwards, its governor (1841–1848). He is known as the father of Liberia and officially declared Liberia's independence in 1847. The descendants of Roberts and the African American settlers are the Americo-Liberian people.

Libya

King Idris Al-sanusi, also known as Idris I of Libya, (1889–1983) was the first and only king of Libya, reigning from 1951 to 1969, and the Chief of the Senussi Muslim order. Idris as-Senussi proclaimed an independent Emirate of Cyrenaica in 1949. He was also invited to become Emir of Tripolitania, another of the three traditional regions that now constitute modern Libya (the third being Fezzan). By accepting he began the process of uniting Libya under a single monarchy. A constitution was enacted in 1949 and adopted in October 1951. A National Congress elected Idris as King of Libya, and as Idris I he proclaimed the independence of the Kingdom of Libya as a sovereign state on 24 December 1951.

Madagascar

* The King Radama I, the first Malagasy sovereign to be recognized as King of Madagascar (1810–1828).
* Philibert Tsiranana, the first President of Madagascar from 1959 to 1972.

Malawi

Hastings Banda served as first Prime Minister of Malawi from 1964 to 1966, then as first President from 1966 to 1994.

Mali

Modibo Keïta served as first President of Mali from 1960 to 1968.

Mauritania

Moktar Ould Daddah served as first President of Mauritania from 1960 to 1978.

Mauritius

Seewoosagur Ramgoolam served as first Prime Minister of Mauritius from 1968 to 1982.

Morocco

Mozambique

Samora Machel served as first President of Mozambique from 1975 to 1986.

Namibia

* Dr. Sam Shafiishuna Nujoma served as first President of Namibia from 1990 to 2005.
* Andimba Toivo ya Toivo was the iconic figure of the Namibian Liberation struggle.
* Hosea Kutako is considered by many as the Father of Namibian Nationalism.
* Hendrik Witbooi was the Nama captain who led the early resistance against Germans in the late 1800s.
* Jonker Afrikaner was the founder of the first rudimentary state in the territory of Namibia.

Niger

Hamani Diori served as first President of Niger from 1960 to 1974.

Nigeria

* Herbert Macaulay (1864–1946)
* Professor Eyo Ita (1903–1972)
* Alvan Ikoku (1900–1971)
* Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe (1904–1996)
* Chief Obafemi Awolowo (1909–1987)
* Al-Haji Sir Ahmadu Bello (1910–1966)
* Al-Haji Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (1912–1966) served as first Prime Minister of Nigeria from 1957 to 1966. Independence from United Kingdom was achieved in 1960.
* Chief Anthony Enahoro (1923–2010)
* Sir Egbert Udo Udoma (1917–1998)
* Al-Haji Aminu Kano (1920–1983)
* Chief S. A. Ajayi (1910–1994)
* Joseph Tarka (1932–1980)
* Dennis Osadebay (1911–1994)

All are considered founders of Nigeria. The troika of Obafemi Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikiwe, and Ahmadu Bello negotiated Nigeria's independence from Britain, aided by such figures as Chief Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti.

Rwanda

Grégoire Kayibanda served as first President of Rwanda from 1962 to 1973.

São Tomé and Príncipe

Manuel Pinto da Costa served as first President of São Tomé and Príncipe from 1975 to 1991.

Sierra Leone

Freetown, Sierra Leone was founded in part by a Black American soldier, Thomas Peters in 1792, after managing to convince British abolitionists to help settle 1,192 Black Americans who fought for the British in return for freedom. Peters, alongside other Black Americans David George and Moses Wilkinson, were influential in the establishment of Freetown, but it was Peters who is remembered today as the true influential leader and founder of Sierra Leone. The descendants of Peters and the Nova Scotian Settlers, Black American founders form part of the Krio ethnicity today, originally published by Longman & Dalhousie University Press (1976). and in 2011, a statue was erected in Freetown to honour him.

Senegal

The founder of modern Senegal is Léopold Sédar Senghor. He served as first President from 1960 to 1980.

Seychelles

James Mancham served as first President of Seychelles from 1976 to 1977. He was one of the last White African presidents in the history of Africa. He considered himself the self-proclaimed "Founding Father"; however this title is often attributed to his socialist successor France-Albert René, who led the country to become one of the most democratic and most economically-stable states in Africa.

Somalia

The Somali Youth League played a major role for Somalia's independence since the 1940s, with two of its members having served as the first two Somali presidents, Aden Adde and Abdirashid Shermarke. There are several murals and monuments dedicated to the SYL's independence movement in Mogadishu.

Republic of South Africa

Nelson Mandela (1918–2013) was the President of South Africa, in office from 1994 to 1999. He led the negotiations, together with F. W. de Klerk, to racially integrate and unite the country.

Other anti-apartheid activists include:
* Oliver Tambo
* Walter Sisulu
* Govan Mbeki
* Joe Slovo
* Ahmed Kathrada
* Raymond Mhlaba
* Robert Sobukwe
* Joe Modise
* Jacob Zuma
* Chris Hani

South Sudan

* John Garang was the main figure involved in spawning and leading the South Sudanese Independence Movement. Even though he did not live to see his country attain independence, he is often regarded as the "Father of the Nation."
* Salva Kiir Mayardit serves as first President of South Sudan from 2011 to present.

Sudan

Ibrahim Abboud

Tanzania

Being the first President of Tanzania, Julius Nyerere was the main figure involved in achieving Tanzania's independence. He is often regarded as the "Father of the Nation."

Togo

Sylvanus Olympio served as first President of Togo from 1960 to 1963.

Tunisia

The founder of the modern Tunisia is Habib Bourguiba. He served as first President from 1957 to 1987 after leading Tunisia to independence from France in 1956 as Prime Minister; then after overthrowing the kingdom he modernized Tunisia, built schools and hospitals, and gave Tunisian women better human rights than other countries, and these rights still continue to be exercised by Tunisian women to this day.

Uganda

Zambia

* Kenneth Kaunda (1924–2021) is the prominent icon in the independence and unification of Zambia. He served as first President from 1964 to 1991. However, there are important personalities like Simon Kapwepwe and Harry Nkumbula (1925–2010) was the first black Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Rhodesia.
Robert Mugabe (1924–2019) was the leader of ZANU-PF, who ruled Zimbabwe from 1980 to 2017.
Others
* Rekayi Tangwena
* Tichafa Samuel Parirenyatwa
* Joshua Nkomo
* Leopold Takawira
* Simon Muzenda
* Ndabaningi Sithole
* Herbert Chitepo
* Josiah Tongogara
* Enos Nkala
* Edgar Tekere
* George Nyandoro
* James Chikerema
* Solomon Mujuru
* Alfred Nikita Mangena
* Josiah Tungamirai