Hollywood actors and married couple Meagan Good and Jonathan Majors have arrived in Guinea, where they are scheduled to be granted citizenship after DNA testing traced their ancestry to the West African country.
Speaking shortly after their arrival, Good said she was delighted to be in Guinea, describing the visit as her first to the country. “We are just happy to be here,” she said.
Majors, known for his roles in Creed and Ant-Man, said he was eager to experience the country alongside his wife. “I am excited to meet the people and go around the town with my wife,” he said.
The citizenship ceremony has been organised by Guinea’s Ministry of Culture and forms part of wider regional efforts aimed at encouraging people of African descent to reconnect with their heritage and contribute to development across the continent.
The ceremony, described as a private cultural event, is due to take place later on Friday at a newly established tourist garden on the outskirts of the capital, Conakry.
Good, 44, and Majors, 36, began their relationship in May 2023 and married last year.
Their wedding followed a challenging period for Majors. In 2024, a US court sentenced him to probation after he was convicted of assaulting his former partner, British choreographer Grace Jabbari. As part of the sentence, he was ordered to complete a 52-week domestic violence intervention programme.
The couple touched down at Conakry’s Gbessia International Airport in the early hours of Friday morning, where they were welcomed by government officials, musicians and supporters in a celebratory reception.
During the visit, they are expected to travel to Boké, a coastal region known for its historical links to the transatlantic slave trade. It remains unclear whether the couple intends to invest in Guinea or relocate there permanently.
As part of the traditional welcome, the actors were presented with kola nuts, which hold deep cultural significance across West Africa. The nuts symbolise hospitality, peace, friendship and life, and are commonly exchanged during important ceremonies such as weddings, funerals and negotiations.
In recent years, a growing number of high-profile figures have sought citizenship or residency in African countries.
This trend gained momentum in 2019 when Ghana launched its “Year of Return” campaign, inviting members of the African diaspora to reconnect with their roots. Among those who accepted citizenship was musician Stevie Wonder, who became a Ghanaian citizen in 2024.
Other prominent examples include US singer Ciara, who obtained Beninese citizenship last year, and actor Samuel L Jackson, who received a Gabonese passport in 2020.
Guinea itself has a longstanding tradition of welcoming members of the African diaspora and political activists.
During the 1960s, South African singer Miriam Makeba and her husband, US civil rights activist and Black Panther leader Stokely Carmichael, relocated to Guinea. Makeba had been rendered stateless because of her opposition to apartheid, and following her marriage to Carmichael—who popularised the phrase “black power”—her US visa was revoked.
Guinea granted Makeba honorary citizenship and appointed her as a cultural ambassador. Carmichael, who later adopted the name Kwame Ture, remained in Guinea even after the couple divorced and lived there until his death in 1998.
In recent years, Guinea has faced significant political upheaval. After a military coup in 2021, the country was governed by a junta led by Gen Mamady Doumbouya, during which time media freedoms were curtailed and protests suppressed.
Last month, Guinea returned to civilian rule following elections that Doumbouya won with 87% of the vote.
Despite political instability and recent coups elsewhere in the region, Guinea has maintained diplomatic ties with Western nations, particularly France.
The country possesses vast mineral resources, including bauxite, iron ore, diamonds, gold and uranium. However, despite this wealth, much of the population continues to live in poverty, making Guinea one of the poorest countries in West Africa.
