The BBC has an interesting piece on witchcraft and soccer in Cameroon. In the past I've had numerous complaints about adding a paragraph about witchcraft in my piece on "Soccer in Africa". Mostly from middle class Africans who hate the way "black magic" is portrayed in the media. But if you read another BBC piece about Voodoo in Benin, you'll see there is nothing to be ashamed about. The Pope was visiting Benin at the time, so it was an interesting case of two quite different religions living side by side in harmony.
Benin is not the only African country with a healthy respect/belief/interest in the workings of black magic or "traditional beliefs". Traditional medicine men (sometimes women) are common throughout sub-Saharan Africa in almost every decent size village, where they practice as herbalists as well as spiritual advisers. Some have better reputations than others, and some are better than others at curing certain ailments. People shop around just like you might do when looking for a psychiatrist or chiropractor.
I grew up in Malawi where it was perfectly normal to visit a witchdoctor as well as a clinic if something ailed you. Witchdoctors can specialize in rituals and amulets used to harm another person. But for the vast majority of cases they simply help people figure out why they are feeling unwell and give them herbs or other advice to make them feel better. If you have constant headaches, you may get a herb to dull the pain, but also some advice on what might be causing the headaches, perhaps an argument with your neighbour or spouse.
I visited a witchdoctor in Ghana last year in a small village on the banks of the Volta river. We knew we'd arrived at the right hut, because there were several chicken heads impaled on spears from recent sacrifices. After knocking back a couple shots of gin and making sure to splash some on the ground for our ancestors, it was time to ask this wise man for some help with our problems. Myself and a friend who was traveling with me, laid out the various medical issues we wanted help with.
We discovered that modern diseases don't easily translate into local Ghanaian languages so we had a very awkward moment. Our witchdoctor friend went into his hut filled with amulets and animal heads, and we hoped he'd at least share a bag of healing herbs or wise words with us. He came out bearing a massive photo of a very swollen, septic and rather disgusting looking male private parts. "Is this the problem?" He asked, "Because I can cure this". Well, what we had been asking about was serious, but thankfully not what he was showing us. After ten more minutes of trying to figure out what each of us was after, we all gave up and just continued to chat instead. He mentioned that if there was a disease or problem someone was born with, he could not help them.
Just as we were about to leave, he asked us if we'd like to see some "science and wonder". Of course we agreed, how could you not. Some incense was lit, and a mysterious looking brown bag was hung on a hook right behind his carved wooden chair. And I kid you not, bees, African bees mind you which are vicious, started to appear from nowhere and settle on this brown bag. Within twenty minutes there was a swarm of them, flying right by his head and he didn't get stung. It was pretty amazing, and so was he. As we said goodbye, he gave me his cell phone number to call if I ever needed help with anything. That's a better service than I ever got from my local doctor.
More About: Places to Visit in Ghana l African Culture
I can vouch for the importance of black magic in African football. When ever my team played a match there was always talk of magic, grasshoppers were caught and buried between the goal posts, players rubbed spit onto the cross bar, the best player could never be the first to go onto the pitch etc. I remember one time, a cup final played at the regional stadium, all our players climbed up some scaffolding and over a 20 ft wall up the side of one of the stands just to get into the ground, fearing quite seriously that the opposition had used magic around the entrance, and if we walked in this way our performance would be affected. When I moved to Tanzania I joined one of the top clubs in the country, Lipuli, and Black Magic there was even more rife, everything was ruled by superstition!