The Hausa of Benin

The Hausa of Benin, numbering approximately 44,500 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a West African diaspora people of Hausa origin, descended from communities rooted in Hausaland of northern Nigeria and southern Niger who established commercial and settlement communities in Benin while maintaining a broader Hausa identity. They mostly adhere to Folk Islam and Hausa is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Benin
People Cluster: Hausa
Primary Language(s): Hausa (hau)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Islam
Population: 44,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG012327
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Hausa of Benin

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Folk Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

99%
%
Folk Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Hausa
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%
%
Hausa Speakers

Media Resources in Hausa:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film

3 films

Bible Resources in Hausa:

3 entries

Or check out the Hausa bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), 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.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Hausa:
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

Pray specifically for the Hausa of Benin

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
readPsalm 73:26

Pray that those who are lost and struggling to find hope will find their strength and hope in God, recognizing Him as their portion and deliverer forever.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise).
readEphesians 6:1-2

Pray that God will bring young men and women to faith in Jesus and that the fruit of their faith will be a powerful testimony as they honor their parents.

For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
read2 Corinthians 12:10

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will embrace their weaknesses, hardships, and difficulties, having hope because Christ's power is made perfect in their weakness.

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
readEphesians 6:11

Pray that those God sends to cross cultures will put on the full armor of God so that they will be able to stand against the schemes of the enemy.

Hausa Across Countries (ROP3 - 103733) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

19 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
HausaHausaNigeria40,640,000Engaged yet UnreachedHausaFolk Islam
HausaHausaNiger16,190,000Engaged yet UnreachedHausaFolk Islam
HausaHausaSudan1,060,000Engaged yet UnreachedHausaSunni Islam
HausaHausaCote d’Ivoire484,000Engaged yet UnreachedHausaFolk Islam
HausaHausaCameroon434,000Engaged yet UnreachedHausaFolk Islam
HausaHausaGhana323,000Engaged yet UnreachedHausaFolk Islam
HausaHausaChad296,000Engaged yet UnreachedHausaFolk Islam
HausaHausaEthiopia134,000Unengaged and UnreachedHausaSunni Islam
HausaHausaGabon45,000Unengaged and UnreachedHausaFolk Islam
HausaHausaBenin44,500Unengaged and UnreachedHausaFolk Islam
HausaHausaCentral African Republic41,500Unengaged and UnreachedHausaFolk Islam
HausaHausaEquatorial Guinea32,500Unengaged and UnreachedHausaFolk Islam
HausaHausaTogo26,000Unengaged and UnreachedHausaFolk Islam
HausaHausaAlgeria12,500Unengaged and UnreachedHausaSunni Islam
HausaHausaCongo12,500Unengaged and UnreachedHausaFolk Islam
HausaHausaBurkina Faso12,000Engaged yet UnreachedHausaFolk Islam
HausaHausaUnited States5,400Unengaged and UnreachedHausaSunni Islam
HausaHausaGuinea1,500Engaged yet UnreachedHausaSunni Islam
HausaHausaCanada375Engaged yet UnreachedHausaSunni Islam

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 Data Standards section.

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