Not only is Africa the second most populous continent in the world with over one billion people, but it is also home to the highest linguistic diversity in the world, with over 1500 different languages.
The principle languages on the continent include Arabic, French and English. Arabic was ranked the 5th most spoken language in the world by research group Ethnologue, with over 240 million speakers worldwide. In Africa, there are more than 100 million speakers, with Egypt accounting for more than 54 million. It is also the most widespread official language on the continent, incluing in Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt.
English reached the 3rd spot as the most spoken language in the world, with over 330 million speakers. It is known as the ‘lingua franca’ of the world, widely used for international business, and is the language of the scientific and medical fields, which use English as a basis for much of the terminology. In Africa, majority of native English speakers are from South Africa, and the language is most spoken in Botswana, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
African languages form part of four language groups, namely Afro-Asiatic covering Northern Africa, Central Sahara and the Horn of Africa, Nilo-Saharian covering Central and Eastern Africa, Niger-Congo covering Central, Southern and Eastern Africa and Khoisan, covering the western part of Southern Africa.
Below are top 10 African languages to know when doing business on the continent or enjoying tourist destinations and experiencing diverse cultures on the continent:
#1 SWAHILI
Swahili is the most spoken language in Africa, with over 100 million speakers. It is a Bantu language believed to have originated from other languages, mainly Arabic, due to historical interactions between Arabs from the Middle East and East Africans. Swahili is Tanzania’s official language, as well as the medium of instruction in all schools. It is also Kenya’s official language as well as Uganda. Other Swahili speaking nations include Rwanda, Burundi, southern Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan northern Mozambique and the Comoros Islands. To greet in Swahili, one says, “Jambo”, or “Habari” when greeting an elder.
#2 AMHARIC
#3 YORUBA
Yoruba is one of West Africa’s most spoken languages, accounting for over 30 million speakers in Nigeria, Benin and Togo, and it is one of Nigeria’s official languages. It is also widely spoken by West African expats in the US and UK. It is the mother tongue of the Yoruba people in Nigeria, and has over fifteen dialects including Awori, Ijesha, Ilaje and Ila. It is a tonal language with three tones: high, mid and low, and forms part of the Volta-Niger branch of the Niger-Congo family of languages. To say hello in Yoruba, one says “Bawo”.
#4 OROMO
Oromo is spoken by over 30 million people in the Horn of Africa, particularly in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Egypt. The Oromo people account for more than 40% of the Ethiopian population, and are the largest ethnic group in the country. The writing of the language was forbidden between 1974 and 1991 under the Mengistu regime, even though limited usage of the Ge’ez script was allowed. After 1991, the language adopted the Latin alphabet. It falls under the Cushitic branch of the Afroasiatic language family. To say hello in Oromo, one says “Akkam”.
#5 HAUSA
Hausa is one of Nigeria’s official languages, and one of the most spoken Chadic languages on the continent, with over 40 million native and second language speakers. It originated as the language of the Hausa people in northern Nigeria and southern Niger, and soon spread as the lingua franca of western Africa due to trade. It is spoken mainly in northern Nigeria, Niger, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, CAR, Chad, Congo, Eritrea, Germany, Ghana, Sudan, Togo and much of North Africa. It uses the Boko and Latin alphabet as its writing system, and is also the basic language for most Muslim populations in western Africa. To say hello in Hausa, one says “Sannu”.
#6 IGBO
#7 ZULU
IsiZulu, or Zulu, is one of South Africa’s official language, and has over 10 million speakers. It is a member of the Bantu/Nguni family of languages, and is spoken mainly in eastern South Africa. It is the second most widely spoken Bantu language, after Shona, and is written using the Latin alphabet. It is characterized by unique click sounds within the dialect as a result of influence from the Khoisan language. To say hello in Zulu, one says “Sawubona”.
#8 SHONA
Shona is the most spoken language in Zimbabwe, with over 10 million speakers in a population of over 14 million. It is Bantu language from the Bantu/Nguni family of languages, and has speakers in Botswana and Mozambique. It is the principle language of Zimbabwe, along with Ndebele and English. To say hello in Shona, one says “Mhoro”.
#9 PORTUGUESE
Portuguese is the official language of six African states, including Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Sao Tome e Principe and Equatorial Guinea. These states are also referred to as Lusophone Africa. Portuguese has become a post-colonial language in Africa and one of the working languages of the African Union and the Southern African Development Community. It coexists on the continent with indigenous languages, mainly the Niger-Congo family languages in Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau and Portuguese-based creoles in Guinea. There are approximately 14 million people who use Portuguese as their mother tongue on the continent, and over 30 million secondary speakers. to say hello in Portuguese, one says “Olá”.
#10 FRENCH
Twenty-six African states form part of Francophone Africa, forming part of the top French-speaking countires on the continent. There are over 120 million French speakers who use the language as their mother tongue or secondary language. The highest percentage of people who speak French are from Gabon, Mauritius, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, Sao Tome e Principe, Tunisia, Guinea, Seychelles, Democratic Republic of Congo and Equatorial Guinea. The second largest French speaking country is Algeria, with over 50 percent of the population being French speakers. Much of the central and western Africa states form part of Francophone Africa, including Morocco, Mauritania, Rwanda, Comoros and Djibouti. To say hello in French, one says “Bonjour”.
Other widely spoken languages of Africa include Berber, which is a popular dialect in North Africa, specifically in Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Tunisia, Mali and Egypt, with approximately 20 million speakers; Somali, which is a Cushitic language spoken in Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya by approximately 20 million speakers; Fulani, which is widely spoken in western and Central Africa by approximately 18 million speakers; Rundi from Burundi which is spoken by over 10 million people; Kinyarwanda in Rwanda which is spoken by over 10 million speakers and Tigrinya, which has over 6 million speakers in Central Eritrea and Sudan. Chichewa is popular in Malawi with over 6 million speakers, and Spanish is also spoken in Equatorial Guinea by over 600,000 people.