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

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.
readEphesians 2:4-5

Pray that those who have not yet received new life will be made alive together with Christ, saved by grace and raised up with Him to newness of life.

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
readPsalm 1:1-2

Pray that God will call out many sons and daughters from among them and give them a deep love for His Word.

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
readRomans 6:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, God will lead those who might hesitate in getting baptized to trust Him as they obey His command, even when obedience is hard.

There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.
readMark 7:15

Pray for Christians to take any opportunity to share the hope of Jesus with lost people here, praying they will be wise like Jesus as they share the truth about what can defile people and what can make them clean.

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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