Which African country became independent from Britain on 6 March 1957? Ghana. The country formerly known as the Gold Coast gained independence on that date under the name Ghana.
The independence movement was led by Kwame Nkrumah and his Convention People’s Party, whose campaign demanded self-government. Nkrumah had been elected to the Gold Coast legislature in 1951 and became the territory’s leading nationalist politician.
At independence, several territories were brought together: the Gold Coast Colony, Ashanti, the Northern Territories and British Togoland. The Ghana Independence Act 1957 provided the legal framework, and Ghana initially remained a Commonwealth country with Britain’s monarch as its constitutional head of state.
Ghana is often described as the first sub-Saharan African country to achieve independence from European colonial rule, though that wording can vary depending on whether earlier African states and different constitutional arrangements are counted. Ghana became a republic on 1 July 1960, when Nkrumah became its first president.