Abstract This paper considers decolonisation as a turning point, or moment of change, in the history of the legal regulation of belonging and membership, with a particular focus on Africa. The paper compares the evolution of concepts of citizenship when African states gained independence with other decolonisations—of the Americas, South Asia, and former Soviet Union. It explores the many similarities between Africa and other post-colonial geographies, especially the frequent resilience of colonial institutions and the resentment of those whose presence in a territory is the result of population movements within the former empires. Yet it also shows how the particular experience of European imperial oppression in Africa created continental dynamics in the imagination and regulation of citizenship that are different from other regions. Finally, however, the paper warns against overemphasising the differences from the debates over citizenship in Europe. Europe, after all, is also a post-colonial space: European borders established at the break-up of the Austro-Hungarian and Russian empires were equally viewed as artificial; while the legacy of European imperialism lives on in contemporary European immigration and citizenship policies. Although the challenges of imagining the community in Africa’s post-independence states are obvious, the boundaries of community are as mutable as they are in other continents, and concepts of citizenship thus not so dissimilar to those in Europe or elsewhere. Keywords Citizenship; decolonisation; Africa; borders Acknowledgements This working paper is the draft of a chapter to be included in a forthcoming volume edited by Dieter Gosewinkel, Liav Orgad and Federico Tomasello, Drawing Boundaries: Moments of Change in the History of Citizenship. The working paper is conceived within the overall framework of the book, which traces how laws and practices of inclusion and exclusion have been established and understood by different societies in Europe—and in territories colonised by European states— focusing on turning points in this history, as historical events created new interpretations and new forms of legal regulation of belonging and membership. Thanks for comments to: Dieter Gosewinkel, Rainer Bauböck, Ian Patel, Samantha Balaton-Chrimes, Sara Dorman, Robtel Neajai Pailey, Patrícia Jerónimo and Maarten Vink. Further comments are welcome.