Africa: Eternally Trapped?

Before we take an excursion on this linguistic journey, two caveats should be in place however.

One is that Arab-speaking Africa is excluded from this discussion for obvious reasons. The other is by way of a quick counter-factual.To ask: are these languages on loan with a “return by” date or have they been permanently inherited by Africa and thus part of the cultural, intellectual and linguistic landscape of the continent? Lapsing into a relativist mindset, I would say: it depends on one’s take on the issue.And it also depends on which part of Africa you find yourself in.During my travels in a number of African countries and discussion with people of various backgrounds, one comes across some contrasting views on the issue and use of foreign languages.In both francophone and lusophone Africa, I have come across a number of people with very strong associations with either French or Portuguese saying these languages are part of their culture – they are our languages, they would say.Whereas in anglophone Africa English is mainly accepted for its utilitarian value.In fact, when I raised the issue of a common language for SADC as part of the integration project in Harare back in 1999, a Mozambican colleague called me naive.And mind you, this was a lecturer at a leading university in Mozambique.But such are the strong sentiments in favor of European languages in parts of Africa.Or indeed among a number of individual Africans everywhere – especially the elite.Closer to home, before Independence, we also regarded English as the language of liberation and Afrikaans that of oppression.And this was true both of South Africa and Namibia.The protests of the 1970s against Bantu education were also partly against Afrikaans and obviously pro-English.A publication of the then Lusaka-based UN Institute for Namibia dealing with language options for independent Namibia made a strong case in favour of English.Of course, as we know, Namibia adopted English as the official language after Independence – thus discarding Afrikaans.From a practical point of view, Namibia is a star performer in this regard.But retrospectively we were somewhat naive to see English as the language of liberation as our Zimbabwean colleagues would testify to the contrary.Language plays different roles in society.It can be a source of communication, national pride and unity.But it can be a source of power and thus social and economic oppression.It can also be a source of division.Thus, from colonial times to the present, the colonial language has played varied and, at times, contradictory roles.The mastery of the colonial language both during and after colonialism in Africa became one of the obvious indicators of social division and status.Those who are conversant in the official language – the language of education, business, administration and the media, always have a clear competitive edge over others in terms of employment opportunities and getting simple things taken care of.At the horizontal level, the colonial language has arguably united different communities and groups whereas at the vertical level it has done exactly the opposite.Now with a number of regional and continental integration experiments underway, what role will these languages play? An extrapolation of the language policy from the national to the regional and continental levels might have the same unifying effect – horizontally speaking.But as it stands now, the situation is not very conducive to either regional or continental unity.When last did you browse through SADC, Comesa, Ecowas, AU or ADB Websites? I urge you to.Especially if you are looking for a good job with these continental bodies.The only hurdle is that you would be required to pass three European languages.So forget about your advanced university degree.Instead, visit your nearest British Council or French Cultural Centers to see if you can get a handle on a new language.A typical requirement for a job with all these bodies, in addition to normal educational requirements, is a heap of European languages.The UN is even worse.At the UN, the powerful nations have their languages as either official or working languages.Now just imagine the amount of papers and documents that get translated during the endless meetings and summits of these organisations.And most of the time they are translated from English into the other languages – which shows that there is basically one dominant international language.And I can tell you it’s fun to watch some of these African gatherings, especially when the delegates from different countries stand up to speak in “their languages”.You would be excused if you thought you were watching the European Union Parliament proceedings – except that you should be able to recognise Muamar Ghadaffi speaking in Arabic.What I’m calling for then, in addition to the many other things that are still to be put in place such as a common currency, central bank or passport; is a common language for Africa in order to facilitate the various cross-cutting interactions in a regional or continental community.The choice would be among the three European languages used in Africa.Although one might legitimately ask why not Arabic, Swahili or even Ndebele as a choice? I’m surprised that most pan African centres are mute on this issue – including our own Pacon.But the adoption of a common language for SADC, Ecowas, Comesa or even the AU, will not only enhance regional integration but will also represent a small liberating act – reducing one of the many vestiges of colonial interferences in our affairs.We have to break loose from these Anglo, Franco and lusophone categories.It is time Africa starts to take some small steps towards re-discovering herself.But which group of countries would be prepared to give up their colonial inheritance and thus commit a “cultural suicide”?The other is by way of a quick counter-factual.To ask: are these languages on loan with a “return by” date or have they been permanently inherited by Africa and thus part of the cultural, intellectual and linguistic landscape of the continent? Lapsing into a relativist mindset, I would say: it depends on one’s take on the issue.And it also depends on which part of Africa you find yourself in.During my travels in a number of African countries and discussion with people of various backgrounds, one comes across some contrasting views on the issue and use of foreign languages.In both francophone and lusophone Africa, I have come across a number of people with very strong associations with either French or Portuguese saying these languages are part of their culture – they are our languages, they would say.Whereas in anglophone Africa English is mainly accepted for its utilitarian value.In fact, when I raised the issue of a common language for SADC as part of the integration project in Harare back in 1999, a Mozambican colleague called me naive.And mind you, this was a lecturer at a leading university in Mozambique.But such are the strong sentiments in favor of European languages in parts of Africa.Or indeed among a number of individual Africans everywhere – especially the elite.Closer to home, before Independence, we also regarded English as the language of liberation and Afrikaans that of oppression.And this was true both of South Africa and Namibia.The protests of the 1970s against Bantu education were also partly against Afrikaans and obviously pro-English.A publication of the then Lusaka-based UN Institute for Namibia dealing with language options for independent Namibia made a strong case in favour of English.Of course, as we know, Namibia adopted English as the official language after Independence – thus discarding Afrikaans.From a practical point of view, Namibia is a star performer in this regard.But retrospectively we were somewhat naive to see English as the language of liberation as our Zimbabwean colleagues would testify to the contrary.Language plays different roles in society.It can be a source of communication, national pride and unity.But it can be a source of power and thus social and economic oppression.It can also be a source of division.Thus, from colonial times to the present, the colonial language has played varied and, at times, contradictory roles.The mastery of the colonial language both during and after colonialism in Africa became one of the obvious indicators of social division and status.Those who are conversant in the official language – the language of education, business, administration and the media, always have a clear competitive edge over others in terms of employment opportunities and getting simple things taken care of.At the horizontal level, the colonial language has arguably united different communities and groups whereas at the vertical level it has done exactly the opposite.Now with a number of regional and continental integration experiments underway, what role will these languages play? An extrapolation of the language policy from the national to the regional and continental levels might have the same unifying effect – horizontally speaking.But as it stands now, the situation is not very conducive to either regional or continental unity.When last did you browse through SADC, Comesa, Ecowas, AU or ADB Websites? I urge you to.Especially if you are looking for a good job with these continental bodies.The only hurdle is that you would be required to pass three European languages.So forget about your advanced university degree.Instead, visit your nearest British Council or French Cultural Centers to see if you can get a handle on a new language.A typical requirement for a job with all these bodies, in addition to normal educational requirements, is a heap of European languages.The UN is even worse.At the UN, the powerful nations have their languages as either official or working languages.Now just imagine the amount of papers and documents that get translated during the endless meetings and summits of these organisations.And most of the time they are translated from English into the other languages – which shows that there is basically one dominant international language.And I can tell you it’s fun to watch some of these African gatherings, especially when the delegates from different countries stand up to speak in “their languages”.You would be excused if you thought you were watching the European Union Parliament proceedings – except that you should be able to recognise Muamar Ghadaffi speaking in Arabic.What I’m calling for then, in addition to the many other things that are still to be put in place such as a common currency, central bank or passport; is a common language for Africa in order to facilitate the various cross-cutting interactions in a regional or continental community.The choice would be among the three European languages used in Africa.Although one might legitimately ask why not Arabic, Swahili or even Ndebele as a choice? I’m surprised that most pan African centres are mute on this issue – including our own Pacon.But the adoption of a common language for SADC, Ecowas, Comesa or even the AU, will not only enhance regional integration but will also represent a small liberating act – reducing one of the many vestiges of colonial interferences in our affairs.We have to break loose from these Anglo, Franco and lusophone categories.It is time Africa starts to take some small steps towards re-discovering herself.But which group of countries would be prepared to give up their colonial inheritance and thus commit a “cultural suicide”?