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The African Gourmet

The African Gourmet: Explore African Culture & Recipes

One bowl of fufu can explain a war. One proverb can outsmart a drought.
Welcome to the real Africa—told through food, memory, and truth.

Christmas & New Year in Africa

Christmas & New Year Across Africa

Holiday traditions, recipes, and celebrations

Christmas across Africa

Merry Christmas in African Languages

Traditions
Krampus dessert

Krampus's Favorite African Dessert

Recipes
New Year fireworks in Africa

How Africa Celebrates New Year

Celebrations
Black eyed pea casserole

New Year's Black Eyed Pea Casserole

Luck & Prosperity

FOOD PROVERBS

African Food Proverbs

Culinary wisdom passed down through generations

African food sayings and proverb

Best Ten African Food Sayings & Proverbs

Culinary Wisdom
Meat stew representing animal wisdom

Honoring Animal: African Wisdom of Thankfulness

Gratitude
Diverse hands placing food on shared table

Bring Something to the Table

Community
Lemon varieties representing spice of life

6 African Proverbs That Will Spice Up Your Cooking

Transformation

French and English Africa's Official Languages

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📁 African facts

Popular in This Category

The Lingua franca and official language of an African country does not reflect the language used by a people. Often most people in Africa do not read, write, speak, or have fluent listening comprehension skills in the Lingua franca or official language of a country.

Vendor selling Hershey's ViVi peanut snack in Ghana.
Vendor selling Hershey's ViVi peanut snack in Ghana. 


Africa is made up of 54 multilingual countries but the Lingua Franca language of business, trade and education in Africa’s ten largest countries are French and English, not native African languages. In every African country many people are multilingual, fluent in a native language and dialect spoken at home and used in local trade at markets or small local businesses. Many people can understand a language but not speak it.

More often than not the official language of an African country does not refer to the language used by a people. For example, French is the official language in Senegal but the majority of the population speaks the African languages of Wolof, Pular, Jola, Mandinka, Serer, and Soninke.

Lingua franca (pronounced ling-wa fran-ka) is a language that is adopted or made official by a country as a common language between speakers who speak different languages. English is the international lingua franca language of the internet, business, aviation, and education.

Two billion people across the globe speak English as either a first or second language. English is the International language. English became the lingua franca due to the expansion of the British empire. English is the largest language by number of speakers. 

English is spoken by communities on every continent and on islands in all the major oceans. It is a co-official language of the United Nations, the European Union and many other world and regional international organizations. English is the lingua franca language of the internet, business, aviation, science, technology and education.

In every African country many people are multilingual, fluent in a native language and dialect spoken at home and used in local trade at markets or small local businesses. Why is French a lingua franca in Africa? Françafrique describes deeply rooted French influence and characterizes the colonial link between France and its former colonies in Africa.

French was the language of colonizers who ruled former French colonies throughout the continent of Africa. France officially maintained colonies in Africa from the 17th century majorly increasing its colonization in Africa during the 1885 Scramble for Africa campaign.

French is the official language in 19 African countries. The former French colonial territories in Africa are the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Central African Republic, Togo, Mauritania, Cameroon, Senegal, Mali, Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, Chad, Djibouti, Burkina Faso, Benin, Madagascar and Niger.


Women sorting coffee beans in Addis Ababa also known as Finfinne is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. Ethiopia is the worlds leading coffee exporter


Lingua franca and official languages of Africa’s 10 largest countries.

Algeria

Arabic (official), Berber (official), French (lingua franca)


Democratic Republic of the Congo

French (official), Lingala African language is the lingua franca of trade language.


Sudan

Arabic (official), English (official), Arabic (lingua franca)


Libya

Arabic (official) Arabic, Italian, English (lingua franca)


Chad

French (official), Arabic (official) Arabic (lingua franca)


Niger

French (official) Hausa, English, Djerma, French (lingua franca)


Angola

Portuguese (official) 

Portuguese and four African languages are the lingua franca of local trade language, they are Umbundu, Kikongo, Kimbundu, Chokwe (lingua franca)


Mali

French (official)

Bambara, French, Fula, Songhai (lingua franca)


South Africa

isiZulu, isiXhosa, Afrikaans, Sepedi, Setswana, English, Sesotho, Xitsonga, siSwati, Tshivenda, and isiNdebele all are official languages.

English (lingua franca)


Ethiopia  

Amharic African language is the lingua franca and official national language of Ethiopia.

Oromo African language is the official working language in the State of Oromiya Ethiopia. Somali official working language of the State of Sumale.

Tigrigna is the official working language of the State of Tigray.

Sidamo, Wolaytta, Gurage, Afar official working languages of the State of Afar. 

Trading beads at a local market in Senegal speaking Wolof
Trading beads at a local market in Senegal speaking the Wolof language



Did you know?
Language is a part of culture; nearly half of the 7,000 languages spoken in the world are expected to vanish in the next 100 years. In Africa, over 2,000 languages are spoken on the continent and hundreds are endangered or critically endangered.

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About the Author

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For 19 years, The African Gourmet has preserved Africa's stories is currently selected for expert consideration by the Library of Congress Web Archives, the world's premier guardian of cultural heritage.

Trusted by: Wikipedia • Emory University African Studies • University of Kansas • University of KwaZulu-Natal • MDPI Scholarly Journals.
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Recipes as Revolution

Recipes as Revolution

When food becomes protest and meals carry political meaning

Loading revolutionary recipes...
African woman farmer

She Feeds Africa

Before sunrise, after sunset, seven days a week — she grows the food that keeps the continent alive.

60–80 % of Africa’s calories come from her hands.
Yet the land, the credit, and the recognition still belong to someone else.

Read her story →

To every mother of millet and miracles —
thank you.

Working Hands of Africa

The labor and love that feeds a continent

Hands holding African fruit

African Culture & Traditions

Harvest & Heritage
Hands preparing fufu

How Fufu Explains Politics

Food & Power
Farming hands in Africa

Slow Food Disappearance

Farming & Tradition
Hands with plantains

The Universal Plantain

Cooking & Community

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Survival of the Fattest, obese Europeans starving Africa

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African Gourmet FAQ

Archive Inquiries

Why "The African Gourmet" if you're an archive?

The name reflects our origin in 2006 as a culinary anthropology project. Over 18 years, we've evolved into a comprehensive digital archive preserving Africa's cultural narratives. "Gourmet" now signifies our curated approach to cultural preservation—each entry carefully selected and contextualized.

What distinguishes this archive from other cultural resources?

We maintain 18 years of continuous cultural documentation—a living timeline of African expression. Unlike static repositories, our archive connects historical traditions with contemporary developments, showing cultural evolution in real time.

How is content selected for the archive?

Our curation follows archival principles: significance, context, and enduring value. We preserve both foundational cultural elements and timely analyses, ensuring future generations understand Africa's complex cultural landscape.

What geographic scope does the archive cover?

The archive spans all 54 African nations, with particular attention to preserving underrepresented cultural narratives. Our mission is comprehensive cultural preservation across the entire continent.

Can researchers access the full archive?

Yes. As a digital archive, we're committed to accessibility. Our 18-year collection is fully searchable and organized for both public education and academic research.

How does this archive ensure cultural preservation?

Through consistent documentation since 2006, we've created an irreplaceable cultural record. Each entry is contextualized within broader African cultural frameworks, preserving not just content but meaning.