The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is an American Christian sect. Early Mormon leaders in America taught that black people were cursed, barring them from the priesthood until as late as 1978.
Between 2011 and 2021 the number of Mormon members in Africa increased by 120%, compared with 19% globally. Nine of the ten countries where expansion is fastest are in Africa. Unlike their brethren in other hotspots such as South America, African Mormons typically remain active and devoted members long after baptism. More new missions are set to open in Africa in 2026 than in any other region. Temples are being built from Sierra Leone to Kenya, with two new ones in Ghana in the pipeline.
In Ghana the church was long viewed as "the white people's church". Ghana's military regime in the 1980s briefly expelled Mormon missionaries, accusing the church of undermining the country's sovereignty. Since 2004 a gleaming Mormon temple has occupied a large plot on Accra's Independence Avenue. The church's membership in Ghana only recently surpassed 100,000 among the country's 34m people. More than two-thirds of those who have joined the church in west Africa since 2019 have been under 26 years old, many drawn by opportunities for educational advancement.
The church has taken to organising high-profile conferences promoting "family values", which have helped it forge ties with prominent African politicians. A report by the Institute for Journalism and Social Change notes that these conferences have been followed by "increases in homophobic violence" in west Africa. Family Watch International, an NGO dedicated to opposing sex education that is run by a prominent Mormon activist, has helped push Ghana's school curriculum in a more conservative direction.
Most of the great triumphs and tragedies of history are caused not by people being fundamentally good or fundamentally evil, but by people being fundamentally people.