Updates on March 5, 2009: Kimuli Kasara at Columbia has made public her data on the ethnicity of heads of state around the world, including Africa, from 1960 to 2000. Check out her website.
Africa Almanac provides the ethnicity of some well-known African including presidents.
Weber (2009, Table H) provides additional information.
There seems to be no reliable, comprehensive dataset on the ethnicity of African presidents. Morrison et al. (1989) contains several mistakes, and also misses presidents coming into power after the mid 1980s. Kasara (2007) appears to eschew this problem by looking at the region of birth for each African president in her analysis on ethnic favoritism.
Here is my effort to collect information from various sources for an aborted research project. I define someone's ethnicity as the ethnicity of his parents. (So it's exogenous.) It's incomplete, but in case someone else is interested in collecting such information, I make it public so such a person won't waste time unnecessarily.
Puffer, Kaplowitz, and Perlstadt (2001) may provide additional sources of information.
Benin
Mathieu Kerekou: Somba
Dov Ronen (1987, page 96) "People's Republic of Benin: The Military, Marxist Ideology, and the Politics of Ethnicity" in The Military in African Politics edited by John W. Harbeson (New York: Praeger), page 96; Karim Okanla (2004) "Benin Readies for Voodoo Day" BBC News, 1 June; Kenneth B. Noble (1991) "Free vote in Benin its first in years" New York Times, March 10.
Burkina Faso
Sangoule Lamizana: Samogo
Page 10 of the Working documents presented at the Workshop "Initiative on capitalising on endogenous capacities for conflict prevention and governance", OECD Sahel and West Africa Club, March 2005
Blaise Compaore: Mossi
Pierre Englebert (1996, pages 62 and 123) Burkina Faso: Unsteady Statehood in West Africa (Boulder: Westview Press)
Central African Republic
Jean-Bedel Bokassa: Mbaika
Samuel Decalo (1985, page 213) "African Personal Dictatorships" Journal of Modern African Studies, 23(2), p. 209-237.
Andre Kolingba: Yakoma
Andreas Mehler (1999, page 206) "Central African Republic" in Dieter Nohlen et al. (eds.) Elections in Africa (Oxford University Press).
Cote d'Ivoire
Felix Houphouet-Boigny: Baoule
Richard C. Crook (1997, page 220) "Winning Coalitions and Ethno-regional Politics: The Failure of the Opposition in the 1990 and 1995 Elections in Cote d'Ivoire" African Affairs, 96(383), pp. 215-242; Jeanne Maddox Toungara (2001, page 65) "Ethnicity and Political Crisis in Cote d'Ivoire" Journal of Democracy, 12(3), pp. 63-72; Samuel Decalo (1992, page 31) "The Process, prospects and constraints of democratization in Africa" African Affairs, 91(362), pp. 7-35.
Henri Konan Bedie: Baoule
Jeanne Maddox Toungara (2001, page 65) "Ethnicity and Political Crisis in Cote d'Ivoire" Journal of Democracy, 12(3), pp. 63-72.
Robert Guei: Yacouba
Jeanne Maddox Toungara (2001, page 65) "Ethnicity and Political Crisis in Cote d'Ivoire" Journal of Democracy, 12(3), pp. 63-72.
Laurent Gbagbo: Bete
Jeanne Maddox Toungara (2001, page 65) "Ethnicity and Political Crisis in Cote d'Ivoire" Journal of Democracy, 12(3), pp. 63-72; Samuel Decalo (1992, page 31) "The Process, prospects and constraints of democratization in Africa" African Affairs, 91(362), pp. 7-35.
Equatorial Guinea
Francisco Macias Nguema: Essengui
Samuel Decalo (1985, page 213) "African Personal Dictatorships" Journal of Modern African Studies, 23(2), p. 209-237.
Ethiopia
Mengistu Haile-Mariam: Wollamo
Haggai Erlich (1976, page 636) "Review: Ethiopia From Crisis to Revolution" Journal of African History, 17(4), pp. 634-636; Said S. Samatar (1984, page 718) "Review of Ethiopia An Heretical Revolution by Rene Lefort and A. M. Berrett" International Journal of African Historical Studies, 17(4), pp. 716-719; Christopher Clapham (1989, page 12) "The State and Revolution in Ethiopia" Review of African Political Economy, 44, pp. 4-17.
Meles Legesse Zenawi: Tigre
Raph Uwechue (1996, page 729) Makers of Modern Africa: Profiles in History, 3rd edition (London: Africa Books)
Gabon
Omar Bongo: Bateke
Samuel Decalo (1992, page 28) "The Process, prospects and constraints of democratization in Africa" African Affairs, 91(362), pp. 7-35.
Ghana
Acheampong: Akwapim
Bennett, Valerie Plave (1973, page 671) “The Motivation for Military Intervention: The Case of Ghana.” The Western Political Quarterly 26: 659-674.
Björn Hettne (1980) "Soldiers and Politics: The Case of Ghana" Journal of Peace Research, 17(2), however, mentions that Acheampong is an Ashanti (footnote 15 on page 191).
Jerry Rawlings: Ewe
Dennis Austin (2000, page 150) "Ghana: Un Beau Voyage in the 1990s?" Parliamentary Affairs, 53(1), pp. 142-156; Terrence Lyons (1997, page 75) "A Major Step Forward" Journal of Democracy, 8(2), pp. 65-77; Naomi Chazan (1982, page 475) "Ethnicity and Politics in Ghana" Political Science Quarterly, 97(3), pp. 461-485.
Guinea
Lansana Conte: Sousou
"Liberia: Cross-border Crisis" Africa
Confidential, 21 July 2005, p. 1
Kenya
Daniel arap Moi: Tugen (a subgroup of Kalenjin)
Korwa G. Adar and Isaac M Munyae (2001) "Human Rights Abuse in Kenya under Daniel arap Moi, 1978-2001" African Studies Quarterly, 5(1); Roddy Fox (1996, page 602) "Bleak Future for Multi-party Elections in Kenya" Journal of Modern African Studies, 34(4), pp. 597-607.
Liberia
Samuel Doe: Krahn
Keesing's Record of World Events, volume 26, page 30405 (August 1980).
Malawi
Hastings Banda: Chewa
Deborah Kaspin (1995, page 604) "The Politics of Ethnicity in Malawi's Democratic Transition" Journal of Modern African Studies, 33(4), pp. 595-620.
Bakili Muluzi: Yao
Deborah Kaspin (1995, page 614) "The Politics of Ethnicity in Malawi's Democratic Transition" Journal of Modern African Studies, 33(4), pp. 595-620.
Mali
Moussa Traore: Bambara
Page 10 of the Working documents presented at the Workshop "Initiative on capitalising on endogenous capacities for conflict prevention and governance", OECD Sahel and West Africa Club, March 2005
Alpha Oumar Konare: Bambara / Fula
Wikipedia
Niger
Hamani Diori: Djerma
Samuel Decalo (1997, p. 121) Historical Dictionary of Niger, 3rd ed. (Scarecrow Press)
Ali Saibou: Djerma-Songhai
Raph Uwechue (1996, page 601) Makers of Modern Africa: Profiles in History, 3rd edition (London: Africa Books)
Mahamane Ousamane: Hausa
Walter S. Clark (1995, page 250) "The National Conference Phenomenon and the Management of Political Conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa" in Ethnic Conflict and Democratization in Africa edited by Harvey Glickman (Atlanta: African Studies Association Press).
Nigeria
Sani Abacha: Kanuri
Raph Uwechue (1996, page 1) Makers of Modern Africa: Profiles in History, 3rd edition (London: Africa Books)
Olusegun Obasanjo: Yoruba
Harvey Glickman (1992, page 223) Political Leaders of Contemporary Africa South of the Sahara
South Africa
Frederick W. de Klerk: Afrikaner
Raph Uwechue (1996, page 175) Makers of Modern Africa: Profiles in History, 3rd edition (London: Africa Books)
Nelson Mandela: Thembu
Raph Uwechue (1996, page 396) Makers of Modern Africa: Profiles in History, 3rd edition (London: Africa Books)
Togo
Gnassingbe Eyadema: Kabiye
Claude E. Welch, Jr. (2002, page 145) "Review of Determinants of Democratization in Africa: A Comparative Study of Benin and Togo by Mahurin C. houngnikpo" African Studies Review, 45(3), p. 145-146; John R. Heilbrunn (1993, page 282) "Social Origins of National Conferences in Benin and Togo" Journal of Modern African Studies, 31(2), p. 277-299.
Uganda
Idi Amin: Kakwa
Samuel Decalo (1985, page 213) "African Personal Dictatorships" Journal of Modern African Studies, 23(2), p. 209-237.
Zambia
Kenneth Kaunda: Nyanja
Daniel N. Posner (2005, page 98) Institutions and Ethnic Politics in Africa (Cambridge University Press)
Frederick Chiluba: Bemba
Raph Uwechue (1996, page 148) Makers of Modern Africa: Profiles in History, 3rd edition (London: Africa Books)
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