The African Language Solutions Blog

SADTU (The South African Democratic Teachers Union) is the latest of voices from the continent calling for more investment and development of indigenous African languages in schools and the education system. In a report from News24 SADTU claims that results from 2015 indicated that language plays a massive role in how successful a pupil is or…

Language can sometimes become a very sensitive political issue; especially in multilingual nations with clear divisions in terms of ethnicity, tribe or religious beliefs. Nigeria has become the latest African country to witness the deep ties to language and the risks at stake when politics and language mix. Last year the Central Bank of Nigeria…

According to census results more than 16 different African languages are now spoken in the Bronx, New York. An influx of West African migrants has resulted in a surge in demand for languages such as Twi, Wolof and more! “People are arriving with language barriers, and as they come and have children in schools, we…

As well as language being a potential barrier to business for those looking to come into Africa, it can also hinder African businesses capturing foreign business. Recognising this, Ethiopia Airlines is investing in Chinese speaking staff to entice Yen spending tourists in the country. According to news outlets such as Yahoo!, Chinese crew members will be…

Microsoft has thrown down the gauntlet in Africa, launching Swahili text translation within Microsoft Translator, the first African language to be offered by the company. Translation into Swahili (or Kiswahili) will be available throughout the Microsoft Translator ecosystem of supported products allowing users to access it when needing translation help.  This includes Bing, Microsoft Office, (Word, Word…

Is the language barrier in Africa holding back innovations and startups coming out of Francophone countries? This is the question investigated by Paul Adepoju on Ventureburn. According to his article,  startups coming out of countries such as South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana gain continent-wide attention. However, very little is said about developments coming out of…

Facebook continue their drive into Africa, now with news that Rwandans will from next week be able to use the social media platform in their own language, Kinyarawanda. The new Kinyarwanda version of Facebook will be launched at the Transform Africa Summit which will take place in the capital city Kigali. “The new Kinyarwanda version will be applicable…

More calls in Ghana from stakeholders within the education system to make local languages central to education . The voices across the continent for education in indigenous languages is getting louder and louder. Speakers were expressing opinions at a stakeholders’ meeting in Tamale, the first stop in a road show of meetings across Ghana to get…

As a translation and localization agency most of our clients come from outside Africa. Some ask us which African language is best or easiest to learn. In all honesty, we don’t know which is the easiest to learn as there are so many. However an article on Insidermonkey.com claims they have identified the 5 easiest. Why learn…

Many people wonder as to why Africa lags so far behind on the internet stakes. Look at any infographic about “the most” internet users, highest penetration rates or e-commerce sales and you rarely see an African nation. Why? The reason why is what is known as the digital divide. The digital divide is a term used…