Africanization or Africanisation (lit., making something African) has been applied in various contexts, notably in geographic and personal naming and in the composition of the civil service via processes such as indigenization.

Africanization of names

Africanization has referred to the modification of placenames and personal names to reflect an "African" identity. In some cases, changes are not only of transliteration but of the European name. In many cases during the colonial period, African placenames were Anglicized or Francized.

Place names

Country names

Various African countries have undergone name changes during the previous century as the result of consolidations and secessions, territories gaining sovereignty, and regime changes.

Other place names

Personal names

Sometimes, the name change can be used to reflect a change of faith, most prominently seen in the case of Islam. (See Islamic name.) Examples:

Africanization of civil services

In some countries after following their independence, "Africanization" was the name given to racial policies and affirmative action, which were intended to increase the number of indigenous Africans in the civil service.

Localization in African languages

The term Africanization, abbreviated as the numeronym "A12n," has been applied to discussion of internationalization and localization of software and content in African languages.