The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced Monday it will soon break ground for and begin the construction of two temples in Africa.
These two temples — to be located in Kumasi, Ghana, and Cape Town, South Africa — were first announced by church President Russell M. Nelson in April 2021 general conference, and will break ground on Oct. 18 and 25, respectively.
“Temples are a vital part of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ in its fulness,” said President Nelson upon announcing these and 18 other temples worldwide. “Ordinances of the temple fill our lives with power and strength available in no other way. We thank God for those blessings.”
Accompanying the announcement of groundbreaking dates for these two African temples, the church also released site plans and an artistic rendering of the Ulaanbaatar Mongolia Temple.
About the church and the temple in Kumasi, Ghana
The Kumasi Ghana Temple, to break ground on Saturday, Oct. 18, is planned to be a two-story structure of approximately 22,750 square feet.
It will stand on a 2.08-acre site located near an existing meetinghouse in the Bantama suburb of Kumasi, and will become the church’s second operating temple in Ghana — a country home to more than 113,000 Latter-day Saints in more than 375 congregations.
According to a Monday release, the gospel of Jesus Christ, as taught by the church, was first introduced to Ghana in the 1960s, when local residents petitioned the church to send missionaries after discovering literature regarding the church.
The church’s first missionaries in Ghana arrived in 1978, and Ghana’s first temple — the Accra Ghana Temple — was dedicated in January 2004.
About the church and the temple in Cape Town, South Africa
To break ground on Saturday, Oct. 25, the Cape Town South Africa Temple will be a single-story edifice of approximately 9,500 square feet.
It will be situated on a 3.79-acre site in the Observatory suburb of Cape Town, and once dedicated, will become the church’s third operating temple in South Africa, joining the country’s two other Latter-day Saint temples in Johannesburg and Durban, South Africa.
The church’s Monday release states that in 1852, then-church president Brigham Young called three missionaries to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ in the Cape of Good Hope, an area located approximately 31 miles south of Cape Town, South Africa.
Over the next three years, these missionaries established six branches in and around Cape Town. And today, church membership in South Africa stands at more than 74,000 members in nearly 200 congregations.
Site plans for the church’s Ulaanbaatar Mongolia Temple
Plans for the Ulaanbatar Mongolia Temple call for a single-story building of approximately 18,850 square feet.
This structure will be built on an almost 11-acre site located at Naadamchid Road, Khan Uul, 8 Khoroo, in Mongolia’s capital city of Ulaanbaatar, and on the site will also exist a patron housing facility and a meetinghouse.
First announced by President Nelson in October 2023 general conference, the Ulaanbaatar Mongolia Temple will serve Mongolia’s more than 12,500 Latter-day Saints as the country’s first Latter-day Saint temple.
