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Translation Africa Blog - May 2014

Chinese Language Lesson Pilot in Lagos

Chinese Language Lesson Pilot in Lagos

27/05/2014

Recently, the government in Lagos revealed the start of a new pilot that will be held in five different schools in the country. According to Codewit World News the subject involved in this pilot will be… Chinese language lesson! This week, the Lagos state Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Olayina Oladunjoye, stated that in 2013, a…

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Ecommerce in Africa – What’s the State of Play?

Ecommerce in Africa – What’s the State of Play?

22/05/2014

Many people are calling Africa the new frontier for ecommerce. The continent is one of the fastest growing markets for purchasing items online. Although the gains aren’t substantial compared to other markets, many industry insiders are predicting 40% annual increases of ecommerce over the next decade. Africa as a whole is showing marked improvement in…

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French Book Market in Danger of Losing Out

French Book Market in Danger of Losing Out

21/05/2014

As French publishers hold on to old habits while the rest of the book industry is moving on, chances are the market will miss out on new growth opportunities. In an article on The Guardian, Pierre Astier and Laure Pécher Only discuss the state of the literary market in France. As France is only one…

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The Most Commonly Spoken African Languages in the USA

The Most Commonly Spoken African Languages in the USA

14/05/2014

Staff writer at Slate, Ben Blatt, has used statistics from Census Bureau’s American Community Survey to create language maps of America. The maps illustrate language use across the USA, interestingly with one map dedicated to African languages.   The map below shows the most spoken African languages state by state.  As you can see Amharic…

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The South Sudan Language Issue

The South Sudan Language Issue

14/05/2014

Even though they are not the mother tongue of many people in South Sudan, the country’s media often uses the English or Arabic languages  meaning many miss out on a lot of important information. In an article on Radio Mazuj, Daniel van Oudenaren states that the crisis in South Sudan has influenced  the media sector…

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Starting Anew: the Amizagh People of Libya

Starting Anew: the Amizagh People of Libya

08/05/2014

After their culture has been oppressed by the Gadaffi government for decades, the Amizagh people are finally able to show their true colours. Al Jazeera recently discussed the Amizagh and their culture which we thought was a nice follow on to our blog “Ethnic and Linguistic Diversity in Libya“. The Amizagh are a minority group…

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Africa carries Global Growth and shows Record Figures

Africa carries Global Growth and shows Record Figures

07/05/2014

The 2013 edition of the annual African Economic Outlook report (PEA) endeavours to work out the growth predictions for the continent. The Ivory Coast is in 4th position, closely followed by Democratic Republic of the Congo in 5th position. It is in West Africa that the growth will be fastest during the 2013-2014 period, predicts…

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Multilingual ERP Systems Needed for African Business Success

Multilingual ERP Systems Needed for African Business Success

06/05/2014

Enterprises that are planning to expand their activities to the African continent should take a closer look at their enterprise resource planning: ensuring that their ERP system approaches consumers in their own language can positively influence their success. According to Taryn Cromie, many companies that wish to expand their business turn their eyes to Africa….

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Facebook deal in East Africa shows importance of African market

Facebook deal in East Africa shows importance of African market

02/05/2014

News out that mobile phone company Tigo and Facebook have joined forces, offering all East Africans who are clients of Tigo with  free access to the social media site on their mobile devices. The move  clearly demonstrates the importance of Africa in Facebook’s future growth plans. According to an article on AllAfrica, the recent partnership…

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