Hollywood actors Meagan Good and Jonathan Majors have been granted Guinean citizenship after tracing their ancestral roots to the West African country through DNA testing.
The move marks another high-profile moment in the growing movement of African diaspora reconnection.
The couple received their citizenship during a private cultural ceremony in Conakry on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, organized by Guinea’s Ministry of Culture at the Gbassi Kolo tourist and cultural centre, according to a report by the BBC.
Guinean passports were formally presented to the actors on behalf of President Mamadi Doumbouya by Djiba Diakité, the minister and chief of staff at the presidency.
“We both believe that you are among the worthy sons and daughters of Guinea to represent our country and the red and green flag throughout the world,” Diakité said during the ceremony.
Speaking to the BBC, Majors described the citizenship as a symbolic and personal bridge between their identities as entertainers and members of the African diaspora. Good, who said it was her first visit to Guinea, expressed gratitude for the welcome, describing the experience as deeply meaningful rather than ceremonial.
“This is not a fleeting connection — it’s something we see as long-term and evolving,” the couple said in a joint email response to the BBC, adding that they could envision owning a home in Guinea and spending significant time in the country.
The actors arrived at Conakry’s Gbessia International Airport in the early hours of Friday and were welcomed by government officials and traditional musicians. As part of their visit, they are scheduled to tour key tourist destinations, including Boké, a coastal region historically linked to the transatlantic slave trade.
Their citizenship aligns with broader West African initiatives encouraging people of African descent to reconnect with their heritage and invest in the continent. The movement gained global attention after Ghana’s 2019 “Year of Return”, which invited members of the diaspora to trace their roots and engage economically and culturally. Since then, several international celebrities have taken up African citizenships, including Stevie Wonder, Ciara (Benin), and Samuel L. Jackson (Gabon).
Guinea itself has a long tradition of welcoming figures from the African diaspora. In the 1960s, iconic South African singer Miriam Makeba and US civil rights activist Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture) settled in the country, with Makeba serving as a cultural ambassador after being rendered stateless for opposing apartheid.
The citizenship ceremony for Good and Majors also comes amid a delicate political transition in Guinea. The country recently returned to civilian rule following elections won by Doumbouya after the 2021 military takeover. Despite its vast mineral wealth, Guinea remains one of West Africa’s poorest nations, even as it maintains diplomatic ties with Western governments.
For Good and Majors, however, the visit is being framed less as a political moment and more as a personal homecoming—one rooted in history, identity, and a long-term commitment to reconnecting with Africa.
