Official Languages in Africa – An Analysis

If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart – Nelson Mandela.

Africa is a diverse continent with over 1.2 billion people and home to more than 2,000 different languages spoken, constituting approximately one-third of the world’s languages. The majority of African countries have multiple official languages due to their colonial past, which has had a significant impact on language use and development in Africa.

The most widely spoken official languages in Africa are English (23), French (21), Arabic (13), Portuguese (6), Swahili (4), siSwati/Swazi and other Southern African languages (2), Somali (2), Tamazight (2) and Tigrinya (2). English is the official language in 23 African countries, French in 21 African countries, Portuguese in 6 African countries, and Arabic in 13 African countries. Swahili is considered as official language in 4 different countries and an official language of the African Union.

It is worth noting that many African countries have their own indigenous languages, which are often used in everyday communication. Despite this, the official language(s) of a country are used in government, education, media, and other formal settings.

💡 Definition of Official Language

An ‘official’ language is a language (or languages) used by a government to conduct official, day-to-day business. A ‘national’ language, is a language commonly shared among the people(s) of the state, regardless of its legal status. While some constitutions use the term ‘national language’ to refer to an official language, the terms are not always interchangeable.

The choice of official languages in African countries has been a subject of debate and controversy. Some argue that the colonial languages still dominate, while others believe that the promotion of African languages is necessary to preserve cultural heritage and promote national unity. For instance, France’s assimilation policy in Africa aimed to promote French language and culture while suppressing African languages and cultures. Despite attempts to change this in Francophone-dominated West Africa, this has not stopped the French government from investing €600,000 to promote French as Nigeria’s second official language.

It is predicted that Africa will have 600 million Francophones in 2050 translating to around 85% of all French speakers.

💡 Data Analysis of African Languages

In our data analysis, we sourced data from the various constitutions, including amendments/updates.

There are 38 different official languages across Africa and it was identified that the major and dominant official languages in Africa are English, French, Arabic, Portuguese, and Swahili.

English (23) is the most used foreign language as official language, while French (21), Arabic (13), Portuguese (6), Swahili (4) and others are widely spoken across Africa. English is the most common (foreign language used as) official language in Africa except Northern Africa. The table below shows the spread of these languages across each region in Africa.

Data prepared using AU (African Union) classification

• Arabic is the dominant language in North Africa, though South Sudan adopted English as its official language when it separated from Sudan.
• French (8) is the dominant language in West Africa, followed by English (5) and Portuguese (2).
• English (8) is the dominant language in East Africa, followed by French (5), Arabic (5) and Swahili (3). Article 137 of the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community provides that “English shall be the official language of the Community while Kiswahili will be developed as a lingua franca of the Community”. Ethiopia is the only East African country that has indigenous languages as official languages.
• French (8) is the dominant language in Central Africa, followed by English (2), Portuguese (2), and Arabic (1), Kirundi (1), Sango (1) and Swahili (1).
• English (8) is the dominant language in Southern Africa, followed by Portuguese (2) and other indigenous languages, some of which differ by dialect. For instance, Tswana is a Bantu language spoken in Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa but only the last 2 countries adopt it as an official language.

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