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People group profile · PG013468

The Mankanya of Guinea-Bissau

The Mankanya of Guinea-Bissau, numbering about 64,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a West African ethnic group indigenous to the Senegambian region.

They are an indigenous people in the Atlantic people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples. Their primary religion is Animism, and they primarily speak Mankanya.

Pray for the MankanyaPrint profile

AI-generated illustration representing the Mankanya people
AI-generated illustration, not a photograph. Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Mankanya

Fast facts

Country
Guinea-Bissau
Population
64,000
Affinity group
Sub-Saharan African Peoples
People cluster
Atlantic
Primary language
Mankanya (knf)
Primary religion
Animism
Strategic Progress Index ?
Engaged yet Unreached
Evangelical
Less than 2%
GSEC ?
Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
Lostness priority ?
Frontier Unreached People Group
Region
Western Africa, Africa

Where they live

Gospel status

The Mankanya are Engaged yet Unreached, which means fewer than 2% are evangelical Christians, but there are sustained efforts to establish self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. In GSEC terms, 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.

  • Congregations exist Yes
  • Church planting in the last two years No Churches Planted

Next steps for the Mankanya

  • 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

Primary religion

Animism · Ethnoreligion

72% adherents

Primary language

Mankanya · Atlantic-Congo family

100% speak Mankanya

Gospel resources in Mankanya

  • Bible available, published 2014
  • JESUS Film available
  • Radio programs not available
  • Gospel recordings available
  • Audio resources available
  • Bible stories not available

Films

Bibles

Find more at the JESUS Film Project, Bible.com and Faith Comes by Hearing.

Pray for the Mankanya

  1. Matthew 9:37–38. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest field.
  2. 2 Timothy 2:2. Pray for faithful local leaders who will teach others, so that the church multiplies.
  3. Ephesians 5:8. Pray that those walking in darkness will turn to the light and live as children of light.
  4. Romans 10:14–15. Ask God to send messengers, so that people can hear, believe and call on the name of the Lord.

Download a prayer guide

Mankanya in other countries

The same people is also reported in 2 other countries.

People groupCountryPopulationStatus
MankanyaSenegal50,500Engaged yet Unreached
MankanyaGambia3,800Unengaged and Unreached

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