The first Christian mission in what will become Kenya is founded in Rabai by Johann Ludwig Krapf. A linguist, he will write the first Swahili dictionary, the first Swahili grammar book, and translate chapters of the Bible into Swahili.

German merchant Adolph Lũderitz concludes the purchase of 148 kilometres of the Southwest African coast, bought from a local European settler for £600 (equal to £93,338 in 2023) and 260 rifles. He uses the land to begin a German colony, naming it Lũderitzland after himself. Namibian chiefs have no use for the coast, and Lũderitz will purchase from them all coastal land extending north to Angola, totaling 580,000 sq km.

Zanzibar ruler Sultan Hamad bin Thuwaini dies suddenly, at 11:40 East African Time as marked by his doctor. His 29-year-old nephew Khalid bin Bargash immediately seizes power. He is suspected of assassinating his uncle. Britain will responds forcefully against Khalid in two days, on 27 August. Zanzibar effectively ceases to be a sovereign state upon Sultan Hamad’s death.

As British and French forces fighting in World War I against Germany in German Togoland draw near the town of Atakpamé, German forces realise they must surrender. Before they do, they sabotage an experimental radio station built by Telefunken in 1911, before it can be confiscated. They blow up nine transmission towers.

The discovery of 48P/Johnson, a periodic comet with a fixed orbit around the Earth, is made by South African astronomer Ernest Johnson. In 2025, the comet will again pass close to Earth.

East African newspaper readers can now have daily copies of the London Telegraph delivered to them by air from England.

Lusaka, the capital of Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), is upgraded from town to city status by British colonial authorities. When Zambia achieves independence in 1964, Lusaka will remain the capital.

Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius, is officially upgraded to the designation of city. This comes on the day that the new municipal government building - or City Hall - is opened.

A pipe bomb explodes in Cape Town restaurant Planet Hollywood, killing two people. South African police suspect the bombers are Islamic terrorists seeking revenge on recent U.S. air attacks on Sudan, and who have chosen to target an American establishment. A non-fatal bomb will explode in the same area in five months, on 1 January 1999.

The largest shopping mall in Lagos, Nigeria opens: the Novare Lekki Mall. 25,000 shoppers ignore a national economic recession and show up in a buying mood.