Rare earth elements (REE) and major elements have been determined in twenty-nine phosphorite and associated sediment samples from the southwestern coast of Africa, including thirteen samples of unconsolidated sediment collected during recent cruises to phosphate-rich areas on the Namibian shelf. The concentrations of REE in various phosphorite types from southwestern Africa differ by more than two orders-of-magnitude. The samples mostly exhibit REE patterns which are similar to that of shale, having no Ce anomaly. The Ce content appears to have been controlled by the palaeoredox conditions of the localised environment of deposition or diagenesis and not to have been influenced by marine upwelling, or by the general palaeoredox conditions of the water column. The environments in which REE were incorporated into the francolite appear to have been anoxic, or sub-oxic, in the case of both Namibian unconsolidated authigenic phosphorites, and the predominantly 'diagenetic' phosphorites off the South African coast. The ultimate REE source in both cases appears to have been (mainly eolic) continental detritus. Pelletal phosphorites are significantly enriched in REE relative to non-pelletal varieties. If sequestration of REE dissolved in the water column contributed to the high concentrations of REE in pelletal phosphorites, then the main carrier phase appears to have been inorganic detritus or biogenic silica equilibrated with oxygen-depleted bottom waters but not fish debris. The contention that onland phosphorites are enriched in REE relative to their offshore counterparts is, however, refuted in the case of southwestern Africa, and the effects of groundwater REE enrichment are not obvious in the majority of onland phosphorites analysed in this study.