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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Shuwa Arabs of Nigeria

The Shuwa Arabs of Nigeria, numbering approximately 235,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a nomadic confederation of people of mixed Arab and Arabized indigenous African ancestry, inhabiting a portion of the Sahel mainly between Lake Chad and the Nile river near south Kordofan. They are an Diaspora people, in the Arab, Shuwa people cluster of the Arab Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Islam - Folk. They primarily speak Arabic, Chadian.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Shuwa Arab

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Nigeria
People Cluster: Arab, Shuwa
Primary Language(s): Arabic, Chadian (shu)
Primary Religion(s): Islam - Folk
Population: 235,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG014441
View on Joshua Project

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Pray for the Shuwa Arabs of Nigeria

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Islam - Folk
Religious Affiliation: Islam

%

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Arabic, Chadian
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

%

Media Resources in Arabic, Chadian:

Films:

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Bible Resources in Arabic, Chadian:

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Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Arabic, Chadian bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Shuwa Arabs

The Shuwa Arabs are Unengaged and Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Next steps for the Shuwa Arabs

The Shuwa Arabs are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Next steps for the Shuwa Arabs

The Shuwa Arabs are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Shuwa Arabs of Nigeria

He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him
readLuke 10:34

Pray that the lost among them will experience the kind of compassion Jesus taught His followers to show others, and that they will trust in Him because He is the one who brings healing to the broken and lost.

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.
readPsalm 19:1-2

Pray that the lost will see the glory of God revealed in the heavens, that they will hear the good news, and that their hearts will be softened to respond to God’s call, turning to Him in repentance and faith in Jesus Christ for salvation.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
read2 Corinthians 5:17

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will understand and experience the truth that in Christ, they are a new creation, and the old has gone and the new has come.

And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.
readMatthew 10:14-15

Pray for God to raise up and send out believers to share the gospel with those in this people group who do not yet follow Christ. Pray that they will be welcomed with open arms so that the people they share with will hear and receive the good news with joy.

Baggara, Shuwa Arab (ROP3 - 108972) reported in the following countries:

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Definitions page.

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