First Branch Created in São Tomé and Príncipe

The Church recently organized its first official branch in the African island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe. The São Tomé Branch is under the direct supervision of the Angola Luanda Mission and serves the capital city of São Tomé, where approximately 40% of the nation's population resides. The country has a population of approximately 210,000 and Portuguese is the official language.

The Angola Luanda Mission has overseen missionary efforts in São Tomé and Príncipe since the mission's creation in 2013. In March 2015, the mission president visited the country, met with isolated members, and conducted a sacrament meeting. In 2017, the first known Latter-day Saint from São Tomé and Príncipe began missionary service in the Cape Verde Praia Mission. Progress accelerated in 2025 when the first full-time missionaries were assigned to the country. Later that year, Elder Ronald A. Rasband dedicated the nation for missionary work, the first convert baptisms were performed, and a member group was organized.

The organization of a branch less than one year after the assignment of full-time missionaries highlights the receptivity of local residents and the rapid development of the Church in the country. Prospects for future growth appear favorable, particularly if full-time missionaries continue to be assigned on a consistent basis and recent converts are successfully retained, strengthened, and prepared for leadership responsibilities. Given the country's small population and concentrated urban center, sustained missionary efforts could establish a stable and self-sufficient local Church presence in the coming years notwithstanding remote location and a relative small population.

First Branch Created in Guinea-Bissau

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently created its first branch in the West African nation of Guinea-Bissau (population 2.2 million). The Bissau Branch was organized under the Espargos Cape Verde District.

Previously, Guinea-Bissau was under the direct supervision of the Africa West Area via the Africa West Area Branch until approximately one year ago, when it was assigned to a mission for the first time—namely, the Cape Verde Praia Mission.

There were 45 Latter-day Saints in Guinea-Bissau as of year-end 2013 (the most recent year with published membership data), most of whom appear to have been baptized and confirmed in other countries (especially Portugal) before returning to their homeland.

Several factors appear to have delayed the establishment of a formal Church presence in Guinea-Bissau:

• The absence of a U.S. embassy

• A comparatively small population (by West African standards)

• Its Portuguese-speaking population

• Its remote location

In recent years, both formal and informal missionary efforts have resulted in convert baptisms within Guinea-Bissau, under the supervision of the Cape Verde Praia Mission. Prior to the branch’s creation, the country pertained to the Cape Verde Praia Mission Branch. Full-time missionaries now appear to be serving in Bissau, further signaling an increased focus on outreach.

Prospects for Church growth in Guinea-Bissau appear highly favorable, given:

• Good receptivity among Bissau-Guineans

• The relatively light administrative burden of the Cape Verde Praia Mission, which currently oversees only Guinea-Bissau and the four stakes and one district in Cape Verde.

With the creation of the Bissau Branch, only three West African nations remain without an official branch of the Church:

1. Burkina Faso

2. Mauritania

3. Niger

Among these, only Burkina Faso has a known member group, which was slated to become a branch in 2020, although this has yet to occur.

Below is a list of West African countries and the year their first branch was organized:

• Ghana – 1978

• Nigeria – 1978

• Liberia – 1987

• Sierra Leone – 1988

• Côte d’Ivoire – 1989

• Togo – 1999

• Benin – 2005

• Senegal – 2016

• Guinea – 2017

• Mali – 2017

• The Gambia – 2022

• Guinea-Bissau – 2025