A local government candidate in Adelaide is gaining attention for his posters urging people to "vote for the black guy".

Nkweto Nkamba, originally from Zambia, denied he was adding any racist undertone to the coming council election for Port Adelaide-Enfield, where he is a candidate in The Parks ward.

He said there was nothing about his posters which pushed any message about racial superiority or inferiority and his motivation was no more than to get people to remember him at voting time.

"I think it's an education [for] society of what racist is," he said.

"I'm actually coming out in a humble way, I'm an easy-going guy, if you like me, vote for me."

Mr Nkamba promotes himself as NK on his posters.

"When you look at my name I think quite a lot of people cannot pronounce that or remember that," he said.

He said he wanted to take a humorous path to being remembered.

"The response has been overwhelmingly good. People have come out and laughed with me, taken photos with me," he said.

"These boys came and [looked at] the posters [and said] 'We want to put it in the back of our ute'."

'This is a man who is comfortable in his skin'

The candidate said he sensed relief among people because he was able to make a positive point about skin colour.

"People have recognised I'm very comfortable with who I am, people have appreciated that," he said.

Nkweto Nkamba said he was making a positive statement. ( ABC: Matthew Abraham )

"In a number of comments on Facebook, people have said 'This is a man who is comfortable in his skin and is proud of it'.

"I think for me as well it is [about] appreciating black is not bad."

He said people had responded that his poster approach was clever, but he agreed with a suggestion it might not be a good idea for any rival candidate to promote skin colour as the approach might not be seen as original.

"It might not work to their favour," he said.

Mr Nkamba, who is an accountant, said a family link brought Australia to his attention so he ended up in Adelaide because he had long wanted to study overseas.

"I learnt of this beautiful place and it's the best decision I ever made," he said of Australia.

"I feel really appreciated and loved in this country."

Mr Nkamba said he was campaigning on issues of public safety, council maintenance work and a need to improve local sports facilities.

Local government voting is by post only and closes in early November across South Australia.