Cities of West and Central Africa

Mbuji-Mayi

Mbuji-Mayi, formerly Bakwanga until 1966, is the capital of Kasaï-Oriental province in the south-central Democratic Republic of the Congo, built atop one of the world's largest diamond deposits.

Menongue

Menongue, formerly Serpa Pinto until 1975, is the capital of Cubango Province in southeastern Angola, terminus of the Namibe railway, at 1,355 m elevation near the Cuebe and Luauca rivers.

Minna

Minna is the capital of Niger State, Nigeria, and seat of Chanchaga LGA. A Gbagyi hill town named for a fire-spraying custom, it grew after the 1910-1911 railway and became state capital in 1976.

Modakeke is a town in Osun State, southwestern Nigeria, settled around 1830 by Oyo-speaking refugees on land granted by the Ooni of Ile-Ife, its neighbor and long-standing rival in one of Nigeria's most persistent communal disputes.

Monrovia

Monrovia is the capital and largest city of Liberia, founded 1822 and renamed in 1824 for President James Monroe. It is the country's government seat, main port city, and most densely populated urban area.

Mopti (city)

Mopti, regional capital in central Mali on the Niger River in the inland delta; founded 1893 as a French post, Great Mosque built 1908; major displacement hub hit by the April 2026 JNIM-FLA offensive.

Moundou (city)

Moundou, Chad's second-largest city and capital of Logone Occidental region, on the Logone River; economic capital built on cotton, brewing, and oil, with severe flooding and widely differing population estimates.

Mubi

Mubi, city in Adamawa State, northeastern Nigeria, near the Cameroon border, spanning Mubi North and Mubi South LGAs. Commercial hub with a major cattle market; population about 225,705 (2026).

Mulenvos

Mulenvos is a municipality and large populated place in Luanda Province, Angola, recorded population 882,014; in 2026 Angola authorized 22.05 billion kwanzas to improve 30 km of its roads.

Mwene-Ditu

Mwene-Ditu, a railway city in Lomami Province, central DR Congo, in Luilu district at about 959 m elevation; city population estimates range from about 189,000 to over 250,000, with a large central market and RN1 road rehabilitation.

N'Djamena

N'Djamena, formerly Fort-Lamy, is the political capital of Chad, founded by the French in 1900 and renamed in 1973, at the confluence of the Chari and Logone rivers on the border with Cameroon.

New Oyo

New Oyo (Yorùbá: Àgó d'Oyo) is the present-day city of Oyo in southwestern Nigeria, founded by Alaafin Atiba around 1838 after the abandonment of Old Oyo.

Niamey

Niamey, capital and largest city of Niger, on the Niger River in the southwest. Colonial-era creation, capital since 1926; population roughly 1-1.8 million, doubling about every 15 years, with major flood exposure.

Nikki

Nikki is a town and commune in the Borgou department of northern Benin, historic capital of the precolonial Bariba kingdom and host of the annual Gaani festival.

Nnewi

Nnewi (Anaedo, "Land of Gold"), city in Anambra State, Nigeria, south of Onitsha; "Japan of Africa" known for Nkwo Nnewi automotive spare parts market, Igbo apprenticeship-driven industry, and Igwe Orizu III's monarchy.

Notsé

Notsé, also spelled Notsie or Notse, is a town in south central Togo, about 90 km from Lomé, remembered as the ancestral home of the Ewe people.

Nouakchott

Nouakchott (نواكشوط), capital and largest city of Mauritania, created ex nihilo in 1957; grew from 500 people in 1960 to about 1.7 million, one third of the country, facing flood and coastal-dune hazards.

Oct 20, 2026

Nzérékoré

Nzérékoré (N'Zérékoré), capital of Guinea's Forest Region near the Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire borders; multiethnic commercial hub of roughly 270,000–316,000 people, seat of Nzérékoré Region and Prefecture, with a regional airport and university.

Obuase

Obuase (modern spelling Obuasi) is a gold-mining city in Ghana's Ashanti Region, seat of the Obuasi Municipal Assembly; mining began with the 1897 Ashanti Goldfields concession, and the 2021 census counted 104,297 residents.

Ogbia

Ogbia, a Local Government Area in Bayelsa State, Nigeria, headquarters Ogbia Town; site of Oloibiri, Nigeria's first commercial oil discovery in 1956; four clans, Ogbia Brotherhood founded 1940.

Ogbomoso

Ogbomoso (Ogbomosho), major Yoruba city in Oyo State, southwestern Nigeria, at 8.1227°N 4.2436°E; founded mid-1600s, seat of Ogbomoso North and South LGAs, home of LAUTECH and the Nigerian Baptist Convention headquarters.

Oguta

Oguta is a lake town in Imo State, southeastern Nigeria, on Oguta Lake, the region's largest natural lake and a historic inland port for the slave and palm oil trades.

Okene

Okene is a city and LGA headquarters in Kogi State, Nigeria, cultural center of the Ebira people and seat of the Ohinoyi; 2006 census 325,623, known for cloth weaving and trade.

Ondo

Ondo: a state in southwestern Nigeria created in 1976, capital Akure, nicknamed the Sunshine State; also the historic Ondo Kingdom and its town Ode-Ondo, ruled by the Osemawe since 1516.

Onitsha

Onitsha is a port city on the eastern bank of the Niger River in Anambra State, Nigeria, home to the Onitsha Main Market, the largest market in Nigeria.

Oct 20, 2026

Osogbo

Osogbo (Oṣogbo, Oshogbo), capital of Osun State, Nigeria, at 7°46′N 4°34′E; a Yoruba commercial city on the Lagos-Kano railway, home of the Ataoja ruler, the Osun-Osogbo Festival, and the UNESCO-listed Sacred Grove.

Oct 20, 2026

Ota, Ogun State

Ota (Otta), town in Ado-Odo/Ota LGA, Ogun State, Nigeria, north of Lagos; Awori town under the Olota of Ota; 163,783 residents (2006); major industrial hub with Covenant and Bells universities.

Ouagadougou

Ouagadougou (Ouaga) is the capital and largest city of Burkina Faso, population 2.5 million in 2015, founded by the Mossi in the 12th century, on the Abidjan railway, facing rapid growth, sanitation gaps, and extreme Sahel heat.

Oualata

Oualata, also spelled Walata (Arabic ولاته), is a historic fortified town in southeastern Mauritania that served for centuries as the western terminus of the Saharan trade route from Timbuktu.