FAITH VERY IMPORTANT IN AFRICAN LIVES

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More than 90 percent of the people in Africa say faith is very important in their lives, reports the Pew Research Centre.

It adds that the continent has one of the major fault lines of religious conflict.

The Pew Research Centre, specialised in research in religion, states that 48 percent of Africa’s 1 billion inhabitants are Christian, 41 percent are Muslim and 11 percent are other or unaffiliated.

The two main religions meet in a 4,000-mile belt from Somalia to Senegal, which often turns violent.

In January, hundreds of Muslims and Christians in Nigeria died fighting each other.

Sudan lies also on this fault line. Around 75 percent of the population is Muslim and between 10 tot 15 percent is Christian, who live mainly in the South.

The imprecise percentage of Christians in Sudan is cause by a lack of proper research so far.

In the 2008 Census, the government did not allow the question about religious affiliation.

Greg Smith, senior researcher of the Pew Centre, says that Christians are less positive in their views of Muslims than Muslims are in their views of Christians.

He adds that both Christians and Muslims show concern about extremism within their own ranks.