But how did Christianity initially expand to become the continent’s dominant religion and do colonial-era missions continue to affect development outcomes today? Nunn 2010, Cage & Rueda 2018, Okoye 2021, Alesina et al. On the basis of missionary atlases denoting the location of Christian missions in the early 20 th century, a burgeoning literature finds long-term effects of early missionary presence on current African education, health, demography, culture, and social mobility outcomes (e.g. 2018).Ĭhristian expansion was initially facilitated by missionary efforts who throughout the colonial era provided the bulk of formal education and health care (Frankema 2012, Meier zu Selhausen 2019). By 2060, Africa will be home to 42% of Christians worldwide, by far the largest concentration globally (Todd et al. While Christians made up barely 5% of sub-Saharan Africa’s population in 1900, the region has risen to be predominantly (57%) Christian today, boasting the most committed Christians worldwide (The Economist 2015).

Among the world’s most powerful cultural transformations in modern history has been the rapid expansion of Christianity in sub-Saharan Africa.

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