A liberal thinktank has claimed that right wing US Christian evangelical groups are targeting Africa with an anti-gay agenda.

Political Research Associates has investigated a number of American religious organisations that have set up bases in the continent and believes that the aggressive attacks on homosexuality and abortion is an attempted “cultural colonisation”, according to reports in The Guardian.

The report – ‘Colonising African Values: How the US Christian Right is Transforming Sexual Politics in Africa’ – names three US organisations leading the promotion of homophobia; the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), Catholic group Human Life International and Family Watch International.

By establishing themselves in the continent, the individual groups allegedly spin human rights advocacy as a movement that will destroy Africa, leaving them to promote an anti-gay stance.

The report alleges that: “A loose network of rightwing charismatic Christians called the transformation movement joins them in fanning the flames of the culture wars over homosexuality and abortion by backing prominent African campaigners and political leaders.”

Prominent African gay rights campaigner and executive director of Sexual Minorities Uganda, Frank Mugisha, welcomed the report and the myth busting of what America brings to Africa.

“I’m grateful for the documentation in the report that confirms that it is homophobia (not homosexuality) that is exported from the west… I hope this report serves as a wakeup call for faith communities in Uganda and the West alike to realise that the American culture wars imposed on us by the Christian right threaten not only African culture, but the very lives of LGBTI Africans like me.”