New Temples Announced in October 2023 - Part II: Africa

Calabar Nigeria Temple

The Calabar Nigeria Temple will be the Church's fifth temple in Nigeria following temples in Aba (dedicated in 2005), Lagos (announced in 2018), Benin City (announced in 2020), and Eket (announced in October 2022). This marks the first time the Church has ever announced so many new temples in a country with only one dedicated temple since Mexico had at one point nine temples announced in February 1999 before a second temple was dedicated in March 1999 (which was the Colonia Juarez Mexico Temple). The new temple will likely include all four stakes and the one district located in Cross Rivers State - the smallest prospective temple district in Nigeria among temples announced. However, the Church in Cross Rivers State has experienced rapid growth during the past two decades. The first stake was organized in Calabar in 2002 from the Calabar Nigeria District, and two additional stakes were organized in the city in 2015 and 2017. The Church has maintained an official presence in Calabar since the early 1980s. Many members in the area speak Efik. Two of the stakes in Calabar appear likely to divide in the foreseeable future due to the steady creation of new wards, suggesting that there may be five stakes in the city within the next 2-3 years. Moreover, the new temple will also likely include the nearby Akamkpa Nigeria Stake (organized in 2022) and the Ugep Nigeria District (also organized in 2022). The Church previously headquartered a mission in the city of Calabar until it was relocated to Uyo within the past decade. I added Calabar to my list of likely new temples to be announced in September 2019 as a less likely location to have a temple announced.

With the steady creation of new stakes and significant active membership growth in many areas of the country (there are currently 70 stakes, 15 districts, and approximately 225,000 members in the country), Nigeria appears a likely candidate for many new temples to be announced, especially if temples service small numbers of stakes like the future Calabar Nigeria Temple. Below is a list of likely locations for future temple announcements in Nigeria (with the current number of stakes and districts likely to be serviced by each temple), given the development of the newly announced Calabar Nigeria Temple.

• Abuja (3 stakes, 1 district)
  
• Enugu (5 stakes, 4 districts)
• Ibadan (6 stakes, 3 districts)
  
• Port Harcourt (8 stakes, 1 district)
• Umuahia (6 stakes)
  
• Uyo (6 stakes)
  

Cape Coast Ghana Temple

The Cape Coast Ghana Temple is the Church's third temple in Ghana following the Accra Ghana Temple (dedicated in 2004) and the Kumasi Ghana Temple (announced in April 2021). The Church organized some of its first congregations in Ghana in Cape Coast in the late 1970s. The Church created its first stake in Cape Coast in 1991 followed by two additional stakes in the Cape Coast area in 2016 and 2021. The new temple will likely service the seven stakes and three districts located within the boundaries of the Ghana Cape Coast Mission (organized in 2005). I have included Cape Coast as a more likely location for a future temple for at least a couple years ago given the large number of stakes assigned to the Accra Ghana Temple, steady growth in the Cape Coast area, and distance to the Accra Ghana Temple. The Church reported 101,924 members at year-end 2022. There are now 29 stakes and 11 districts in Ghana.

Luanda Angola Temple

The Luanda Angola Temple is the Church's first temple in Angola. The temple announcement is unprecedented for Africa as there has never been a temple announced in an African country with as few Latter-day Saints as Angola (4,760 as of year-end 2022) and where there is only one stake (although this stake appears likely to divide in the near future). The Johannesburg South Africa Temple was previously the temple announced in an African country with the fewest members at the time of the announcement (approximately 8,500 members in two stakes in 1981). I added Luanda to the less likely list of potential locations for a temple announcement in February 2022. There are numerous factors that may have influenced the announcement of a temple in Angola despite few members of the Church in the country and a fairly recent Church establishment (first branch was organized in 1996, the first and only mission was organized in 2013, and the first and only stake was organized in 2018). Securing land is very difficult in Luanda, and the city ranks among the most expensive cities to live in within the world. Thus, it may take a considerable amount of time to secure a suitable site to build the temple. Also, the Luanda Angola Stake is a remote stake with no other nearby Portuguese-speaking countries with an established Church presence. Finally, access to temples in other countries appears more difficult than other African nations due to distance and travel costs. Furthermore, the Church has experienced unprecedented growth and expansion into many areas of the country within the past 1-2 years. The new temple will likely service only one stake and one district at present, although there is a strong probability that additional stakes will be organized in the immediate future. Angola did not even rank within the top 10 countries with the most members without a temple per year-end 2022 membership figures, although with rapid membership growth in 2023 in many areas, there may be as many as 6,000-7,000 members by the end of the year (which would have placed Angola as high as fourth among countries with the most members without a temple).

Mbuji-Mayi Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) Temple

The Mbuji-Mayi DR Congo Temple will be the Church's fourth temple in the DR Congo following temples in Kinshasa (dedicated in 2019), Lubumbashi (announced in 2020), and Kananga (announced October 2021). I added Mbuji-Mayi as a less likely location for a future temple announcement in February 2023. The Church created its first mission in Mbuji-Mayi in 2016, and this mission divided earlier in 2023 to create a separate mission in Kananga. This area of the central DR Congo, known as the Kasai Region, has experienced some of the most rapid growth in the worldwide Church in modern history. The first branches were created in the region in 1997, and today there are now nine stakes in the region with the creation of several new stakes appearing imminent due to rapid growth in the numbers of active members. The new temple in Mbuji-Mayi will likely include six stakes in its temple district based upon the current organization of the Church in the area. A separate temple for Mbuji-Mayi in addition to the previously announced Kananga DR Congo Temple appeared warranted due to extreme difficulties with travel in the DR Congo and the development of a strong center of strength in Mbuji-Mayi. The Church organized its first stake in Mbuji-Mayi in 2016 followed by a second stake in the city in 2022. Other stakes likely to be assigned to the new temple district are located in Luputa (two stakes created in 2011 and 2021), Mwene-Ditu (organized in 2019 and currently has 12 wards), and Ngandajika (organized in 2023). There were 102,862 Latter-day Saints in the DR Congo as of year-end 2022. Given rapid growth, extremely high member activity rates, and travel difficulties, the Church in the DR Congo will likely announce additional temples in the coming years. Some likely locations in the DR Congo for temple announcements in the next five years include the following:

• Kinshasa (second temple) - 5-6 stakes 
• Kolwezi (1 stakes, but this stake appears likely to divide in the immediate future)
  
• Likasi (3 stakes - one of which appears ready to divide in the immediate future [Kolwezi])
  
• Luputa or Mwene-Ditu (3 stakes - one of which appears ready to divide in the immediate future
• Matadi (1 district that appears close to become a stake and several nearby mission branches that may be organized into a district in Muanda)