African emigrants to Italy include Italian citizens and residents originally from Africa. Immigrants from Africa officially residing in Italy in 2015 numbered about 1,000,000 residents. Afro-Italians (''Afroitaliani'') are born and are raised in Italy, citizen of African descent or of mixed African and Italian roots. In 2014 over 170,000 migrants arrived which represented the biggest influx of people into one country in European Union history. A large percentage of them arrive via Africa. African migrants specifically use Libyan coasts to travel across the Mediterranean Sea in large numbers, hoping to land on Italian shores. Although departing from Libya, most are from Ghana, Senegal, Nigeria and

Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...

. The route is dangerous and often unsuccessful; in 2015, 2,000 people died crossing the Mediterranean and the Libyan coast guard intercepted many of the boats transporting the migrants from Africa to Italy. As this route has gained more and more attention throughout the years, smugglers have started to use alternate routes such as Egypt, the Balkan route from Greece, and a very risky route from mountain passes in Albania. In 2016, Italy's finance minister pushed for financial compensation from the European Union for his country's financial losses because of mass migration. As of 2016, the European Union had put forth 1.8 billion euros for the entirety of Africa's refugee efforts in Europe.

Countries of origin

North Africa

The largest group of immigrants from Africa are Arabs/Berbers from North Africa, numbering 641,085 official residents in 2016. By country of origin, most of these recent arrivals are from Morocco (437,485), Tunisia (95,645), Egypt (109,871) and Algeria (71,765). Italy also has a number of immigrants from Libya (1,819), territories where Italian expatriates had a presence during the colonial period.

Sub-Saharan Africans

Compared to Maghrebis/Berbers from North Africa, the percentage of Sub-Saharan Africans (most of them Christians) as a proportion of immigrants to Italy from Africa is 35.7% (370,068 official residents in 2015). Most come from Nigeria (98,176), Senegal (77,264) and Ghana (48,637). There are also smaller numbers from

(9,579), from Ethiopia (8,000) and from Somalia (7,903).

Notable immigrants to Italy

The following is a list of notable people of African birth who later immigrated to Italy and resided there, either wholly or at least part time.

Sports

Politicians

* Magdi Allam - Former member of the European Parliament (born in Egypt) *

Toni Iwobi Tony Chike Iwobi (born 26 April 1955),CV
Commune.spirano. Retrieved 6 March 2018 ...

- Former member of the

Italian Senate The Senate of the Republic ( it, Senato della Repubblica), or simply the Senate ( it, Senato), is the upper house of the bicameral Italian Parliament (the other being the Chamber of Deputies). The two houses together form a perfect bicameral sy ...

(born in Nigeria) * Cécile Kyenge - Former Minister of Integration and former member of the European Parliament (born in Democratic Republic of the Congo) *

Souad Sbai Souad Sbai (; born 1961) is a Moroccan-born Italian politician and writer. She was born in Settat, Morocco, on 5 February 1961. She has lived in Italy since about 1979. She was a member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies from 2008 to 2013, and ...

- Former member of the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

(born in Morocco) * Jean-Léonard Touadi - Former member of the

(born in the

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...

) *

Aboubakar Soumahoro Aboubakar Soumahoro (born 6 June 1980) is an Italian- Ivorian trade unionist, labor activist and politician, elected to the Chamber of Deputies at the 2022 Italian election. He has advocated for labor rights of migrant farmers in Italy. Biogra ...

- Member of the

(born in Ivory Coast) *

Dacia Valent Dacia Soraya Valent (12 February 1963 – 22 January 2015) was a Somali-born Italian politician and former Member of the European Parliament. Biography Dacia Valent was born in Mogadishu to an Italian father and a Somali mother. She traveled ex ...

- Former member of the European Parliament (born in Somalia)

Music

Saba Anglana Saba Anglana (born November 17, 1970) is a Somali-Italian actress and international singer. Biography Saba was born in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, during the country's socialist period. Her mother was the daughter of an exiled Somali li ...

- singer and actress born in Somalia * Bello FiGo - singer born in Ghana *

Franco Califano Franco Califano (14 September 1938 – 30 March 2013) was an Italian lyricist, composer, singer-songwriter, author and actor. During his career he sold about 20 million records. Life and career Born in an airplane above Tripoli, Libya, Califan ...

- singer born in Libya * Nour Eddine - singer and filmmaker born in Morocco * Laïoung, rapper and music producer, (born 1992, in Brussels to) Italian father and British mother of Sierra Leonean origin *

Bruno Lauzi Bruno Lauzi (; 8 August 1937 – 24 October 2006) was an Italian singer-songwriter, poet and writer. Biography Bruno Lauzi was born in Asmara, then part of the Italian Eastern Africa, to a Catholic father, Francesco Lauzi and a Jewish moth ...

- singer born in

* :it:Ma Rue or ''Maruego'' - rapper, (born 1992 in Morocco), grew up in Milan, naturalized Italian

Communications and other media

Khaby Lame Khabane "Khaby" Lame (; born 9 March 2000) is a Senegalese-born Italian social media personality. He is known for his TikTok videos in which he silently mocks overly complicated life hack videos. As of January , Lame is the most-followed user ...

- prominent TikToker of Senegalese background

Acting, television and filmmaking

* Remo Girone - actor born in

* Sandra Milo - actress born in Tunisia * Claudia Cardinale - actress born in Tunisia *

Zeudi Araya Zeudi Araya (born 10 February 1951) is an Eritrean-Italian former actress, singer, model and film producer. Career On a journey to Italy in 1972, Araya recorded a commercial for coffee, where she was introduced to director Luigi Scattini, who ...

n-Italian actress * Edwige Fenech - actress born in Algeria of

Maltese Maltese may refer to: * Someone or something of, from, or related to Malta * Maltese alphabet * Maltese cuisine * Maltese culture * Maltese language, the Semitic language spoken by Maltese people * Maltese people, people from Malta or of Malte ...

father and Italian mother * Youma Diakite - model born in Mali

Community activists

Josephine Bakhita Josephine Margaret Bakhita, (ca. 1869 – 8 February 1947), was a Sudanese-Italian Canossian religious sister who lived in Italy for 45 years, after having been a slave in Sudan. In 2000, she was declared a saint, the first Black woman to r ...

(c. 1869–1947), Catholic religious sister, born in

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

; declared a saint by the Catholic Church in 2000 * Michele Amatore (1826 - 1883), born in Sudan, enslaved in childhood, later freed and established in Italy; soldier and sharpshooter in Piedmontese army, attaining rank of captain. Decorated for distinguished service in Sicily during a

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

epidemic. *

Adel Smith Adel Smith (March 9, 1960 – August 22, 2014), born Emilio Smith in Alexandria, Egypt, was an Italian Muslim known for his radical stances and often accused of fundamentalism. He was the son of a Naples-born Italian architect of Scottish descent ...

(1960–2014), controversial Italian anti-Christian activist. Born Emilio Smith in Alexandria, Egypt to an Italian father and an Egyptian mother; raised in Italy as a Catholic, he later converted to

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

References

{{Immigration to Italy Ethnic groups in Italy Italian people of African descent