One powerful African language
The 28 days of Language Activism Month has come to a close. PanSALB has concluded events with an inaugural public lecture and awards for language activists at the Cape Town lnternational Conference Centre.
While this is a noble cause deserving public support, I believe there is an urgent need to develop one powerful African language, which we can all support and understand.
English has already arrived and it is not going to go away. To avoid being completely overrun by English, we must focus our attention on only one sub-Saharan African language.
Let’s all speak Swahili. This suggestion was first tabled in 2012 by the popular songstress Simphiwe Dana. She is not only an accomplished diva, but is also blessed with foresight.
Adopting Swahili throughout SADC would improve communication with our northern neighbours. Currently intra-African trade is 11% of total trade. There is room for improvement. In Europe, 60% of trade is within the region.
Multilingualism is a local issue and should be handled as such. Bilingualism is of national and international significance. Therefore institutions of learning, the state and the private sector would be well advised to channel resources in this direction.
Currently more than half the world’s population speak only 20 languages. If an African language could garner international support, it would soon be among the frontrunners.
Assuming that a positive decision was made and that Swahili became the pan-African language of choice, then we would officially become a bilingual country. Our language status would be like that of Canada, with English and French. The two languages would keep each other honest.