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People group profile · PG014251

The Maninka of Senegal

The Maninka of Senegal, numbering about 679,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Senegal.

They are an indigenous people in the Malinke people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples. Their primary religion is Folk Islam, and they primarily speak Western Maninkakan.

Pray for the ManinkaPrint profile

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

Fast facts

Country
Senegal
Population
679,000
Affinity group
Sub-Saharan African Peoples
People cluster
Malinke
Primary language
Western Maninkakan (mlq)
Primary religion
Folk Islam
Strategic Progress Index
Engaged yet Unreached
Evangelical
No Known Evangelicals
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 Maninka 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 No
  • Church planting in the last two years No Churches Planted

Next steps for the Maninka

  • 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

Folk Islam · Islam

99% adherents

Primary language

Western Maninkakan · Mande family

100% speak Western Maninkakan

Gospel resources in Western Maninkakan

  • Bible available, published 2003
  • JESUS Film available
  • Radio programs not available
  • Gospel recordings available
  • Audio resources available
  • Bible stories not available

Films

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

Pray for the Maninka

  1. Psalm 27:1. Pray that new believers will be strengthened in the face of persecution, with the Lord as their stronghold.
  2. Romans 12:4–5. Pray that believers from many cultures will work together as one body so that the church is built up.
  3. Revelation 7:9. Pray for the day when people from this group stand before the throne with every nation, tribe, people and language.
  4. John 17:3. Pray that many will come to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent.

Download a prayer guide

Maninka, Western in other countries

The same people (ROP3 106266) is reported in 3 other countries.

People groupCountryPopulationStatus
ManinkaMali774,000Engaged yet Unreached
ManinkaBurkina Faso194,000Engaged yet Unreached
ManinkaUnited States5,700Engaged yet Unreached

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