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The South Central Banda of Central African Republic

The South Central Banda of Central African Republic, numbering approximately 288,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a regional branch of the Banda, Central Africa's largest ethnic group, organized into patrilineal hamlets under local headmen and growing maize, cassava, groundnuts, and yams despite historic devastation from nineteenth-century slave raiding. They mostly adhere to Neo-Pentecostalism and South Central Banda is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Banda, South Central

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Central African Republic
People Cluster: Adamawa-Ubangi
Primary Language(s): South Central Banda (lnl)
Primary Religion(s): Neo-Pentecostalism
Population: 288,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG012884

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Pray for the South Central Banda of Central African Republic

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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Neo-Pentecostalism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

—
%
Neo-Pentecostalism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: South Central Banda
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Banda, South Central Speakers

Media Resources in South Central Banda:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in South Central Banda:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2020 ACATBA✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the South Central Banda bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The South Central Banda 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.

Next steps for the South Central Banda:
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

Pray specifically for the South Central Banda of Central African Republic

For you, O LORD, are most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.
readPsalm 97:9

Pray that those who don't yet know Him will recognize the Lord as the Most High and turn from spiritual darkness to worship Him above all else.

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
readRevelation 4:11

Pray that the good news will advance and people will recognize and worship the One who created all things by His will, giving glory and honor to Him alone.

Turn, O LORD, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love.
readPsalm 6:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and still struggle with the worries of this life, God will deliver them from worry for the sake of His steadfast love.

"For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you."
readActs 17:23

Pray that believers God sends to cross cultures will be sensitive to the spiritual needs of the people they serve, and will proclaim the truth of Christ to them in creative ways that they will understand.

Banda, South Central Across Countries (ROP3 - 119352) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountry ▼PopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
South Central BandaPG012884South Central BandaCentral African Republic288,000Engaged yet UnreachedSouth Central BandaNeo-Pentecostalism

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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