:: PROCMURA Country Profiles

PROCMURA has come to realise that country profiles in terms of religious affiliation is problematic. Numbers rather than commitment to Islam or Christianity are taken so seriously that one cannot find any objectivity and honesty in them. Most governments in Africa have avoided the religious affiliation question in recent censuses for fear of polarising citizens along religious lines.

In the profiles below, we have categorised Christian and Muslim populations in terms of majority (over 50%) and minority (less than 50%). In order not to be subjective but take estimates on their face value, the Christian population in Africa is drawn from the World Christian Encyclopaedia, and the Muslim population from the Islamic Foundation. In countries where the two sources agree on which religious group constitutes the majority, we regard those percentages as generally accepted by adherents of both religions. There are, however, countries where the World Christian Encyclopaedia indicates that Christians are the majority, and the Islamic Foundation indicates that Muslims are the majority. Christians and Muslims in those countries also argue about which religious group is the majority. These countries we have categorised as contested countries in terms of religious affiliation.

Since our prime focus is Christian-Muslim relations, we have consciously avoided mention of populations of other religions - not even the African Traditional Religion(s), the primordial religion of Africa.

PROCMURA profiles its area of work into six parts based on where it is strongest or weakest and where it has no intention of instituting a presence yet. Below are the six groupings.

i.      Substantive Area Committees
ii.     Provisional Area Committees
iii.    Development Stage
iv.    Exploratory Stage
v.   Yet to be Explored
vi.    Learning Area