Why French Language Matters for Africa
French is one of the vibrant languages of the world and one of the current official six languages of the United Nations with Arabic, Chinese, English, Russian and Spanish. French, other than English language is the only language spoken in all five continents and it represents the 2nd most spoken language native and foreign language in Europe
The language is spoken by over 300 million people worldwide with an estimated 200 million speakers in Africa alone in the 27 francophone countries. As a result, French ranks as the fifth most spoken language globally behind Chinese, English, Spanish, and Arabic. Besides, French is an official language in several francophone African countries including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Burundi, Rwanda, among others
Despite the global reach of English, French is undoubtedly a growing language in the continent with at least two hundred million speakers. With this estimated numbers, the rising birthrates and literacy indicate that there could be 700 million French speakers in the world
Due to the increasing number of French speakers on the continent and the growing literacy in the francophone countries, fluency in French language comes with opportunities. The existence of Alliance Franca’s has undeniably contributed to the persistent increase and advancement of the French language on the African continent
Since the language is spoken in about 27 African countries, the number have explicitly rendered the language relevant and important in global and continental business. What is evident is the fact that every continental business forum necessarily involves the attendance of French speakers besides their English, Arabic and at times Spanish counterparts.
France is a leading tourist destination in the world and as such the French language becomes a necessity in tourism and global business
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