Welcome to Rotary Club of Accra South

The History of Rotary in West African Sub Region

In 1939 Rotary reached the West Africa sub-region for the first time through Senegal, with the charter of the doyen club of Dakar on July 10th, 1939. Thereafter, Rotary gradually spread through Cote d’Ivoire and Cameroon until it reached the first Anglophone country, Ghana, in 1958.

In rapid succession, Rotary was received in Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Benin, Niger and Togo, in that order and by 1968 there were twelve west African countries

The first West Africa Rotary Convention took place in Accra from 21st to 23rd  March, 1968 and between 1968 and 1973, Rotary International appointed Administrative Coordinators or Advisors to oversee the emerging Clubs. The Convention became an annual affair, with the fifth edition taking place again in Accra from 9th to 12th March, 1972.

That 1972 convention  was the turning point in the history of Rotary in West Africa,  RI President Ernst G. Breitholtz and his wife were in attendance, and the number of Clubs had increased from 12 in 1968 to 33. Rotary International  reached a decision create a district for the clubs in the West Africa  sub-region, and  the Rotary year 1972-73 saw the birth of  District 210.

And so for the first ever, the District Assembly and Conference (DAC) of District 210 took place in the city of Lome, Togo in April 1973. At that memorable meeting, Francois Amorin was declared the first District Governor Elect.

In the Rotary year 1977-78, District 210 was redesignated District 910, and three more countries, Chad, The Gambia, Mauritania and Guinea were added to the district.

By the end of the 1981-82 Rotary year, Rotary’s growth, particularly  in Nigeria, was so phenomenal that RI decided to create a separate district for Nigeria, in the process of which four were subsequently created, namely D911, D912, D913 and D914.

At about the same time in 1982, three other countries, Cameroon, Chad and Mauritania, were annexed to other Districts.

Consequently, the district  lost four countries, but Burkina Faso were added to the district after they joined the Rotary movement in 1985.

In the Rotary year 1991-92 Rotary International added a zero to all existing districts worldwide and  District 910  became  District 9100.

In 1992, RI added two Portuguese speaking countries , Cape Verde (Rotary Club of Praia) and Guinea-Bissau (Rotary Club of Bissau) to District 9100.

With a total of fourteen countries, D9100 was recognized as the largest district in the Rotary world not only in terms of the number of member countries, but also by the number of languages: French, English and Portuguese.

The countries were: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo

At the beginning of the Rotary year 2013-2014, the district was split into two, with 10 countries making up the new District 9101 and four countries making District 9102.

Ghana belongs to District 9102 together with Togo, Benin and Niger. District 9102 currently has  96 clubs  with 2,440 members (1st July 2018)