Actually, in Africa, most (if not all) of the former British colonies became republics and used that word in their offical names. That includes the Republic of Botswana, the Republic of the Gambia, the Republic of Mauritius, the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Republic of Seychelles, the Republic of South Africa, the Republic of the Sudan, the United Republic of Tanzania, the Republic of Zambia, and the Republic of Zimbabwe.
Right and they had to write up the constitution which took a few months and therefore they had already determined that they would be a Republic