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It is estimated that the current population of African immigrants to the United States is about 881,300.[2] Countries with the most immigrants to the U.S. are Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Egypt, Somalia, and South Africa.

Additionally, according to the U.S. Census, 55% of immigrants from Africa are male, while 45% are female. Age groups with the largest cohort of African-born immigrants are 25-34, 35-44, and 45-54 with 24.5%, 27.9%, and 15.0% respectively.


Immigrants from Africa typically settle in heavily urban areas upon arrival into the U.S. Areas such as Washington, D.C., New York, Columbus, Ohio, Atlanta and Minneapolis have heavy concentrations of African immigrant populations relative to the African American population. Often there are clusters of nationalities within these cities. For instance, Washington, D.C. has large Ghanaian, Eritrean, and Ethiopian communities; Minneapolis has large Somali and Ethiopian populations; and Africans in Houston are predominantly Nigerian. The longer African immigrants live in the United States, the more likely they are to live in suburban areas.

Africans have the highest educational attainment rates of any immigrant group in the United States, with higher levels of completion than the stereotyped Asian American model minority.[5][6] Estimates indicate that a significant percentage of black students at elite universities are African or the children of African immigrants, a notable example of this is Barack Obama.[7]

Harvard University, for example, has estimated that two-thirds of their black population is not traditional Afro Americans.[8] This is true for other universities such as Brown, Yale, Princeton, Penn, Columbia, Duke and Berkeley.[9] As a result, the benefits of affirmative action are not efficiently serving traditional multi-generational black Americans who are descendants of American slaves.

In an analysis of Census Bureau data by the Journal of Blacks in higher education, African immigrants to the United States were found more likely to be college educated than any other immigrant group. African immigrants to the U.S. are also more highly educated than any other native-born ethnic group including white Americans. Some 48.9 percent of all African immigrants hold a college diploma. This is slightly more than the percentage of Asian immigrants to the U.S., nearly double the rate of native-born white Americans, and nearly four times the rate of native-born African Americans.[10]

In 1997, 19.4 percent of all adult African immigrants in the United States held a graduate degree, compared to 8.1 percent of adult white Americans and 3.8 percent of adult black Americans in the United States, respectively.[11] This information suggests that America has an equally large achievement gap between whites and African/Asian immigrants as it does between white and black Americans.


In Canada, similar trends can be seen where both foreign-born and Canadian-born blacks have graduation rates that exceed those of other Canadians. Similar patterns of educational over-achievement are reached with years of schooling and with data from the 1994 Statistics Canada survey.[15][16] Black immigrants have a higher standard of educational achievement, on average, than the overall Canadian population.

African immigrants to the United States are the largest immigrant group that has the highest percentage of people that are fluent in English.[clarification needed] This is likely because English is one of the most spoken languages in Africa.


Notable African immigrants
These are Americans with at least one parent from Africa.

Academia and Science

Kwame Anthony Appiah, Half Ghanaian, philosopher,
Kitaw Ejigu, Ethiopia, former NASA chief engineer
Sossina M. Haile, Ethiopia, fuel cell engineer
Emmanuel Kwaku Akyeampong, Ghana, Professor of African and African American Studies; Chair, Committee on African Studies, Harvard university [23]
Dinaw Mengestu, Ethiopia, author
Said Sheikh Samatar, Somalia, historian
John Ogbu, Nigeria, anthropologist
Fred McBagonluri, Ghanaian, Engineer,Author: 2009 US Astronaut Candidate Finalist/2008 NJBiz Innovator Hero[24][25] [26] [27],
Pashington Obeng Ghana, Ph. D, author, professor at Wellesley College and Harvard University.[28]
Window Snyder, half Kenyan, chief security officer at Mozilla Corporation
Kwabena Boahen, PhD, Ghana, Professor of Bioengineering; Principal Investigator, Lab. Brains in Silicon, Stanford University [29][30]
Victor Ukpolo Nigerian, chancellor of Southern University at New Orleans
Claude Ake, Nigerian political scientist, Yale University Professor
Victor Laurence, Ghanaian, Engineer, Dean Special Programs Stevens Institute, Bell Lab Fellow

Acting

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Nigeria
Gbenga Akinnagbe, Nigeria
Sophie Okonedo, Half Nigeria
Djimon Hounsou, Benin
Edi Gathegi, Kenya
Boris Kodjoe, half Ghanaian
Peter Mensah, Ghana
Cliff Simon, South Africa
Jaye Davidson, Half Ghanaian
Charlize Theron, South Africa

Athletes

Joseph Addai, Ghana, NFL football
Freddy Adu, Ghana, soccer
Maurice Edu, Nigerian parents, soccer
Andre Iguodala, half Nigerian, basketball
Kofi Kingston, Ghana, professional wrestling
Bernard Lagat, Kenya, runner
Dikembe Mutombo, Congo, NBA Basketball
Emeka Okafor, Nigeria, NBA Basketball
Nazr Mohammed, Ghanaian parents, NBA Basketball
Amobi Okoye, Nigeria, football
Hakeem Olajuwon, Nigeria, basketball
Oguchi Onyewu, Nigerian parents, soccer
Ebenezer Ekuban, Ghana, NFL football
Osi Umenyiora, Nigeria, football
Hasheem Thabeet, Tanzania, college basketball
Robbie Russell (soccer), Ghana, Soccer
Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Cameroon, Basketball
Ndamukong Suh, Cameroon, Football
Joshua Clottey, Ghana, Boxer
Madieu Williams, Sierra Leone, NFL Football
Charlie Peprah, Ghanaian parents, NFL football
Prince Nana, Ghana professional wrestling

Business

Kase Lukman
Lawal, Nigeria. Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, CAMAC HOLDINGS
Noah Samara, Ethiopia, CEO of Worldspace
Eric Osiakwan, Ghanaian internet entrepreneur and researcher [31]

Fashion

Amsale Aberra, Ethiopia, fashion designer
Iman, Somalia, Supermodel, actress, fashion and cosmetic designer
Liya Kebede, Ethiopia, Supermodel, actress
Oluchi Onweagba, Nigeria, Supermodel and Victoria Secret Angel, covergirl for S.I.
[edit] Journalism and Literature
Selamawi Asgedom, Ethiopia and Eritrea, author
Farai Chideya, Half Zimbabwean, NPR
Dinaw Mengestu, Ethiopia, author
Lola Ogunnaike, Nigeria, CNN Reporter
Shihab Rattansi, Kenya, Al Jazeera English news anchor

Music

Seal, Nigerian international singer, songwriter, composer, and record producer.
Sade, Half Nigerian international singer, songwriter, composer, and record producer.
Rhian Benson, Half Ghanaian soul and jazz singer, songwriter, and composer.
Tunde Adebimpe, Nigeria, lead singer for band experimental rock band TV on the Radio
Akon, Senegalese, Hip-hop and Pop star
Chamillionaire, Nigeria, rapper
Chikezie, Nigeria, singer, American Idol
MF Doom, Half Zimbabwean
Kenna, Ethiopia, Alternative rock musician
Disashi Lumumba-Kasongo, Congo (RDC), guitarist for band Gym Class Heroes, grandnephew of Patrice Lumumba
William Chapman Nyaho, Ghana, Concert pianist
Tom Morello, half-Kenyan, guitarist for Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave
Dave Matthews, South Africa
Lil' O, Nigeria, rapper
V.I.C., Half Ghanaian, rapper
Wale (rapper), Nigeria
Kilenm (rapper), Ethiopia/ Washington DC

Politics

Barack Obama, half-Kenyan, 44th President of the United States

@ somalis are educated.

SOURCES PLEASE AND HOW DID REFUGEES ALL OF A SUDDEN BECOME THE MOST EDUCATED

Its VERY true.

However I think Somalis bring down the statistic, so do Sudanese and Liberians; those 3 groups don't achieve shit, they usually come and die with qaxooti mentality and lifestyle. Kudos to Ethiopians, Ghanaians and Nigerians.

paidmonk wrote:Its VERY true.

However I think Somalis bring down the statistic, so do Sudanese and Liberians; those 3 groups don't achieve shit, they usually come and die with qaxooti mentality and lifestyle. Kudos to Ethiopians, Ghanaians and Nigerians.

I actually find the sudanese people to be one of the most educated in the african and middle eastern communities. Every sudanese I've met is a doctor/dentist, engineer, teacher, businessman. Maybe you're talking about the southern ones . Lakiin most somalis, as embarrassing as it is to admit, are layabouts and good-for-nothings. I can honestly say, the amount of educated somali guys I know can be counted with my fingers. I don't know anything about xabashis, but nigerians and ghanaians are some of the most educated people in the world; kudos to them . To somalis; WAKE THE FCK UP! Waa la idin dhaafay .

Yeah Ganjaweed I'm talking about Southern Sudanese that are shit, the Arab ones are top notch but they are a minority in the United States. The Habeshis are doing well, they are more Westernized than Somalis, some become like Afro-Americans and others become like the Whites.

Somalis can be very productive people if they have the right incentives (Just look at the Somali communities in Dubai and Nairobi) but Western countries ruin this by giving them so many hand outs...(welfare..)

dawwa9 wrote:Somalis can be very productive people if they have the right incentives..)

You're right.

The thing is though Somalis are naturally happy with very little. If the Men can have enough money to buy 1 cup of shah a day, that is enough for Him to spend the whole day chatting at the cafe. A Somali Man doesn't really need money to enjoy Himself.

paidmonk wrote:Its VERY true.

However I think Somalis bring down the statistic, so do Sudanese and Liberians; those 3 groups don't achieve shit, they usually come and die with qaxooti mentality and lifestyle. Kudos to Ethiopians, Ghanaians and Nigerians.

Sudanese, really? There the most progressive bunch here in the UK, they all practically work in every major medical field. A Somali man once said that if you choose to have a heart-attack be sure to be around a Sudanese and a Somali person, your guaranteed to be treated by one of them and the other would have had several ambulances on speed-dial...

something is wrong with this article. number one there is no hard evidence immigrant from africa are doing well in any western nation.

i can just talk about me... I think the immigrant especially is like fish living in a land. meaning struggle struggle only.

do some more study about that success my friend.

AMAT-ALLAH wrote:Sudanese, really? There the most progressive bunch here in the UK, they all practically work in every major medical field. A Somali man once said that if you choose to have a heart-attack be sure to be around a Sudanese and a Somali person, your guaranteed to be treated by one of them and the other would have had several ambulances on speed-dial...

I'm talking about South Sudanese.

And this is about the United States BTW.

But like I said both groups are qaxooti and mostly 1st generation, we'll give them until 2020 to catch up.

Well done to africans. Forget about africa and make alife for yourself in your new adoptive countries. Feel part of that society. Forget about dictator run africa. Secure your life and happiness.

Dont look back.

Adoons, Jareers and Mermaids are the most progressive African immigrants

To US somalinet members: How many Somalis attend university for every TEN who do not attend?

"As a result, the benefits of affirmative action are not efficiently serving traditional multi-generational black Americans who are descendants of American slaves."


Hail the adooons.