French is the Official Language in 19 African Countries
French language was introduced to Africa due to colonialism.
French is the Official Language in 19 African Countries.
List of French Speaking African Countries.
List of French Speaking African Countries.
Hence, French is the official language of 19 countries in Africa but it does not mean French is widely spoken in French-speaking Africa. The 19 countries of Africa where French is the official language are Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, and Togo.
The French Colonial Domain
The French Colonial Domain
By the early years of the twentieth century, the French held most of what would come to be their colonial territory in West Africa including present-day Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin, Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire, and Niger.
By the close of the Second World War, the African peoples of French Colonial West Africa were making their discontent with the French Colonial structure heard. West Africans had participated in the Napoleonic Wars and other World Wars for France and the mounting opposition to French Colonial rule and its exploitative nature, resulted in an African protest movement that would ultimately lead to independence for the French-speaking African territories.
The Anglophone Problem is increasingly dominating the political agenda of Cameroon but, the Anglophone problem, what is it? In 2016 and 2017 protests by English-speaking Cameroonians, who have complained of marginalization in the largely French-speaking country are growing in number.
French is the official language in 19 African countries |
Benin
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Burkina Faso
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Burundi
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Cameroon
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Central African Republic
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Chad
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Cote d’Ivoire
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The Democratic Republic of the Congo
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Djibouti
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Equatorial Guinea
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Gabon
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Guinea
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Madagascar
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Mali
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Niger
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Republic of the Congo
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Rwanda
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Senegal
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Seychelles
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Switzerland
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Togo
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In Africa the French language is usually the lingua franca or the language for business and education.
