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    10 July 2023 - Africa West Area
    News Release

    The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Opens Three New Missions in West Africa

    New Missions in Nigeria and Cote d'Ivoire Reflect Continued Growth of Church

    Mangu
    Mangu
    Missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Nigeria Lagos Mission, serving in the Jos District. Jos is now part of the new Nigeria Abuja Mission2023 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.
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    The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has recognized considerable growth in the Africa West Area.  Currently there are over 450,000 members and 1617 congregations in the Area, and those numbers continue to expand.  To accommodate this growth the Church announced the creation of three new missions in Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire.  On 1 July 2023, the Nigeria Aba Mission, the Nigeria Abuja Mission, and the Cote d’Ivoire Abidjan North Mission officially opened to serve the people of West Africa.

    Earlier this year, the Church announced that six new missions would be created in 2023.  Five of the six missions announced were in Africa, including the three missions opened in West Africa.  Additional missions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo Kananga Mission) and South Africa (South Africa Pretoria Mission) were opened on July 1.

    President Terrify Antonio Banda and Sister Mary Banda were called to serve as mission leaders in the Nigeria Aba Mission.  This mission is a division of the Nigeria Owerri Mission with areas also within the Nigeria Benin City and Nigeria Enugu Missions.  President and Sister Banda are from Harare, Zimbabwe.  The Aba Temple, one of two operating temples in the West Africa Area, is in the mission boundaries.

    The Nigeria Abuja Mission is a division of the Nigeria Lagos Mission.  President Dennis Ocansey and Sister Rita Darkwaah Ocansey will serve as mission leaders.  President Ocansey was recently released as Stake President of the Accra Ghana Christianborg Stake. 

    In Cote d’Ivoire, the Abidjan North Mission was created as a division of the Cote d’Ivoire Abidjan East Mission, with some areas currently within the Abidjan West Mission.  President Gregory B. Robinson and Sister Robin A. Robinson are the mission leaders of the new mission.  The Robinson’s are from Park City, Utah.  The Abidjan Temple is nearing completion.

    With the addition of these three missions, the Africa West Area currently has 20 missions covering Nigeria, Ghana, Benin, Togo, Cote d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Mali, Senegal, and the Gambia.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints now has 416 missions worldwide.

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