Adopting Kiswahili as Africa’s official language will unite, strengthen continent – Tanzanian Envoy

Adopting Kiswahili as Africa’s official language will unite, strengthen continent – Tanzanian Envoy.

The Summit of the AU Heads of State and Government officially adopted Kiswahili as the continent’s official language following a request from Tanzanian’s Vice President, Philip Mpango.

Dr Benson Bana, Tanzanian High Commissioner to Nigeria on Tuesday, said that the adoption of Kiswahili as Africa’s official language by the African Union (AU) will help unite, strengthen the continent and bridge diversities.

Bana made this known n Abuja at the pre-event news briefing ahead of the inaugural World Kiswahili Language Day celebration on July 14.

Bana said that the adoption of a working language among African countries will foster the integration of the AU agenda and the realisation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).

The High Commissioner said that the AU adopted Kiswahili as the Continent’s official language in February  2022 because it is the most spoken language on the continent among almost three hundred million AU citizens.

Bana explained that adopting a common language in Africa will help bridge the diversities among countries of the continent, the diversities he further urged African citizens to leverage on positively.

Bana however urged African leaders to embrace the AU’s decision to enable the continent have a unifying factor, the language to free citizens of member countries from the lingua divides created by the colonial masters.

The High Commissioner noted that the Tanzanian High Commission in Nigeria is also in talks with the Nigerian government and Institutions to incorporate Swahili into their learning curriculum.

Bana said that the High Commission will on July 14 in Abuja celebrate the Inaugural “World Kiswahili Day under the mandate of the government of the United Republic of Tanzania which is the home of Kiswahili.

He said that the event will be celebrated by all Tanzanian Missions abroad under the mandate of its government.

It could be recalled that the idea of Swahili as a pan-African language was pushed in the 1960s by Tanzania’s first President Julius Nyerere, who used Swahili to unify his nation after independence.

Currently, English is the official or second language in 27 out of the 54 countries in Africa, and French is the official language in 21 of them.