according to us census bureau data, very few african immigrants self-identify as "african-american" (as "african-american" is usually referring to blacks with deeply rooted ancestry dating back to the us slave period as discussed in the previous paragraph.) on average, less than 5% of african residents self-reported as "african-american" or "afro-american" on the 2000 us census. the overwhelming majority of african immigrants (~95%) identified instead with their own respective ethnicities. self-designation as "african-american" or "afro-american" was highest among individuals from west africa (4%-9%), and lowest among individuals from cape verde, east africa and southern africa (0%-4%). nonetheless, african immigrants often develop very successful professional and business working-relationships with african-americans.