Africa has more countries on the GREEN×EXPO 2027 participation list than any other region: 36, close to half of all participating countries. The list is published by the GREEN×EXPO Association (the public-interest incorporated association organising the 2027 International Horticultural Expo) and Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). As of 2026-09-09, it included 74 countries and five international organisations.
The list is in gojuon (Japanese alphabetical) order. Following that order, we have split Africa’s 36 countries into two halves, and the first 18 run from Angola to Seychelles. For each, we give the participation status and the capital, population and languages from MOFA’s basic data. As of September 2026, none of these 18 countries has announced signing an official participation contract.
In an earlier news story, we also covered an announcement that participating countries gathered in Yokohama around TICAD9 (the Tokyo International Conference on African Development) in August 2025. The full list of participating countries is on our feature page, “Participating countries guide”.
Country by country (1): Angola to Ghana
1. Republic of Angola
Angola is among the countries that have announced participation. As of September 2026, neither the signing of an official participation contract nor specific exhibit details have been announced. According to MOFA’s basic data, the capital is Luanda, the population is about 37.88 million (2024, World Bank), and the languages are Portuguese (official) and Umbundu, among others.
2. Republic of Uganda
Uganda is among the countries that have announced participation. As of September 2026, neither the signing of an official participation contract nor specific exhibit details have been announced. According to MOFA’s basic data, the capital is Kampala, the population is about 50.02 million (2024, World Bank), and the languages include English, Swahili and Ganda.
3. Arab Republic of Egypt
Egypt is among the countries that have announced participation. As of September 2026, neither the signing of an official participation contract nor specific exhibit details have been announced. According to MOFA’s basic data, the capital is Cairo, the population is 116.53 million, and the language is Arabic (English is also widely used in urban areas).
4. Kingdom of Eswatini
Eswatini is among the countries that have announced participation. As of September 2026, neither the signing of an official participation contract nor specific exhibit details have been announced. According to MOFA’s basic data, the capital is Mbabane, the population is about 1.24 million (2024, World Bank), and the languages are English and siSwati.
5. Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
Ethiopia is among the countries that have announced participation. As of September 2026, neither the signing of an official participation contract nor specific exhibit details have been announced. According to MOFA’s basic data, the capital is Addis Ababa, the population is about 132.06 million (2024, World Bank), and the languages include Amharic, Oromo and English.
6. Republic of Ghana
Ghana is among the countries that have announced participation. As of September 2026, neither the signing of an official participation contract nor specific exhibit details have been announced. According to MOFA’s basic data, the capital is Accra, the population is about 34.43 million (2024, World Bank), and the languages are English (official) and various local languages.
Country by country (2): Cameroon to Comoros
7. Republic of Cameroon
Cameroon is among the countries that have announced participation. As of September 2026, neither the signing of an official participation contract nor specific exhibit details have been announced. According to MOFA’s basic data, the capital is Yaoundé, the population is 29.12 million (2024, World Bank), and the languages are French and English (both official) and various local languages.
8. Republic of The Gambia
The Gambia is among the countries that have announced participation. As of September 2026, neither the signing of an official participation contract nor specific exhibit details have been announced. According to MOFA’s basic data, the capital is Banjul, the population is about 2.76 million (2024, World Bank), and the languages include English (official), Mandinka and Wolof.
9. Republic of Guinea
Guinea is among the countries that have announced participation. As of September 2026, neither the signing of an official participation contract nor specific exhibit details have been announced. According to MOFA’s basic data, the capital is Conakry, the population is 14.75 million (2024, World Bank), and the languages are French and various local languages.
10. Republic of Kenya
Kenya is among the countries that have announced participation. As of September 2026, neither the signing of an official participation contract nor specific exhibit details have been announced. According to MOFA’s basic data, the capital is Nairobi, the population is 56.43 million (2024, World Bank), and the languages are Swahili and English.
11. Republic of Côte d’Ivoire
Côte d’Ivoire is among the countries that have announced participation. As of September 2026, neither the signing of an official participation contract nor specific exhibit details have been announced. According to MOFA’s basic data, the capital is Yamoussoukro (Abidjan functions as the de facto capital), the population is 31.93 million (2024, World Bank), and the languages are French (official) and various local languages.
12. Union of the Comoros
Comoros is among the countries that have announced participation. As of September 2026, neither the signing of an official participation contract nor specific exhibit details have been announced. According to MOFA’s basic data, the capital is Moroni, the population is about 860,000 (2024, World Bank), and French, Arabic and Comorian are all official languages.
Country by country (3): Democratic Republic of the Congo to Seychelles
13. Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is among the countries that have announced participation. As of September 2026, neither the signing of an official participation contract nor specific exhibit details have been announced. According to MOFA’s basic data, the capital is Kinshasa, the population is 109.28 million (2024, World Bank), and the languages include French (official), Lingala and Swahili.
14. Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe
São Tomé and Príncipe is among the countries that have announced participation. As of September 2026, neither the signing of an official participation contract nor specific exhibit details have been announced. According to MOFA’s basic data, the capital is São Tomé, the population is 236,000 (2024, World Bank), and the language is Portuguese.
15. Republic of Djibouti
Djibouti is among the countries that have announced participation. As of September 2026, neither the signing of an official participation contract nor specific exhibit details have been announced. According to MOFA’s basic data, the capital is Djibouti, the population is 1.17 million (2024, World Bank), and the languages are Arabic and French.
16. Republic of Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is among the countries that have announced participation. As of September 2026, neither the signing of an official participation contract nor specific exhibit details have been announced. According to MOFA’s basic data, the capital is Harare, the population is 16.63 million (2024, World Bank), and the languages include English, Shona and Ndebele (16 languages are recognised under the constitution).
17. Republic of the Sudan
Sudan is among the countries that have announced participation. As of September 2026, neither the signing of an official participation contract nor specific exhibit details have been announced. According to MOFA’s basic data, the capital is Khartoum, the population is 49.38 million (2023, World Bank), and the language is Arabic (official; English is also used).
18. Republic of Seychelles
Seychelles is among the countries that have announced participation. As of September 2026, neither the signing of an official participation contract nor specific exhibit details have been announced. According to MOFA’s basic data, the capital is Victoria (on Mahé), the population is about 120,000 (2022, World Bank), and the languages are English, French and Creole.
Our take
These 18 countries run from Egypt and Ethiopia, which have long garden traditions, to island nations such as Seychelles, Comoros and São Tomé and Príncipe. None of them has signed an official participation contract yet. Even so, this many have already announced participation. We think that shows African countries see the Expo as a place for diplomacy and for presenting their cultures, as well as for horticulture. Exhibit details have not been announced, and we will update this article when they are.
All participating countries are listed in our “Participating countries guide”. Dates, getting to the site, tickets and places to stay are on our “GREEN×EXPO 2027” page.