This paper aims to present an overview of the history of translation in Sub-Saharan Africa, and attempts to cover the major periods of its history and the main regions of the continent. Translation and interpreting have always played a major role in enabling communication between disparate groups such as between kings and their subjects, colonizers and colonized, or in more contemporary times, between linguistic communities in a highly multicultural and multilingual Africa. Over the centuries, translation has been involved in many key sectors of activity in Africa ranging from politics and administration to culture and religion. Translation in this context has involved a great variety of language combinations between African languages, European languages and Arabic, as well as some traditional forms of intersemiotic translation. The history of translation in Africa reflects the rich and complex history of the continent and the various linguistic and cultural contacts and exchanges that have shaped and defined its destiny.