African Countries That Changed Their Names Gold Coast → Ghana 🇬🇭 (1957) Dahomey Republic → Benin Republic 🇧🇯 (1975) Southern Rhodesia → Zimbabwe 🇿🇼 (1980) Portuguese East Africa → Mozambique 🇲🇿 (1975) British East Africa → Kenya 🇰🇪, Uganda 🇺🇬 Spanish Guinea → Equatorial Guinea 🇬🇶 (1968) Abyssinia → Ethiopia 🇪🇹 (1945) French Sudan → Mali 🇲🇱 (1960) French Togoland → Togo 🇹🇬 (1960) German East Africa → Rwanda 🇷🇼, Burundi 🇧🇮 and Tanzania 🇹🇿 Portuguese Guinea → Guinea-Bissau 🇬🇼 Nyasaland → Malawi 🇲🇼 (1964) Northern Rhodesia → Zambia 🇿🇲 (1964) Tanganyika and Zanzibar → Tanzania 🇹🇿 (1964) Bechuanaland → Botswana 🇧🇼 (1966) Basutoland → Lesotho 🇱🇸 (1966) Upper Volta → Burkina Faso 🇧🇫 (1984) Ivory Coast → Cote d'Ivoire 🇨🇮 (1986) South West Africa Zaire → Namibia 🇳🇦 (1990) Zaire → DR Congo 🇨🇩 (1997) Swaziland → Eswatini 🇸🇿 (2018) Ruanda-Urundi → Rwanda 🇹🇿 (1962) and Burundi 🇧🇮 (1962)