ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AFP) — A string of west African countries have outlawed same-sex relations in recent months, further eroding LGBTQ rights on a continent where they were already under attack.

Of Africa’s 54 countries, only about 20 do not currently criminalize same-sex relations.

Here is a look at the wave of anti-LGBTQ sentiment sweeping the continent and some of the forces driving it, from politicians playing to their homophobic base to the geopolitics of rejecting supposedly “Western values.”

What are the laws?

Uganda set the tone in 2023, adopting one of the world’s harshest anti-LGBTQ laws, including the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality.”

Various countries have recently followed suit.

In September 2025, Burkina Faso criminalized same-sex relations with prison terms of up to five years.

In February, neighboring Niger did the same, adopting a new penal code with harsh sentences including jail terms of up to 20 years for same-sex marriage.

In March, Senegal adopted a law doubling sentences for same-sex relations, to five to 10 years.

And in May, Ghana’s parliament passed a bill imposing prison terms of up to three years for same-sex relations, or up to five years for “promoting” them.