The Songhai of Burkina Faso

The Songhai of Burkina Faso, numbering approximately 261,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a prominent ethnolinguistic group in West Africa, with deep historical roots tied to the Songhai Empire, one of the great medieval empires of the region. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Humburi Senni Songhay is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Songhai

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Burkina Faso
People Cluster: Songhai
Primary Language(s): Humburi Senni Songhay (hmb)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 261,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG048627
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Pray for the Songhai of Burkina Faso

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

75%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Humburi Senni Songhay
Language Family: Songhay

100%
%
Songhay, Humburi Senni Speakers

Media Resources in Humburi Senni Songhay:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Bible Resources in Humburi Senni Songhay:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Humburi Senni Songhay 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 Songhai:
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 Songhai of Burkina Faso

The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.
readMatthew 4:16

Pray that those living in darkness and the shadow of death will see a great light and turn to the Lord for salvation.

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns."
readIsaiah 52:7

Pray that those who don't know the good news of peace and salvation through Jesus Christ will have an opportunity to receive it. Pray that it will bring hope and healing to their souls.

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
readRomans 8:38-39

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have confidence in their salvation, knowing that nothing can separate them from the One who conquered death and loves them as His children.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
readJohn 3:16

Pray that God will send and sustain believers to cross cultures and share the gospel with the lost. Ask that He will give them His heart for the lost and that many will believe in Him and not perish but have eternal life.

Songhai, Humburi Senni Across Countries (ROP3 - 114970) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

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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