Most spoken languages in Africa in 2021

What are the most spoken languages in Africa? Every year, things changes. As at last year, the list we made is totally different from this year. It is so shocking to see the lane of kiswahili also known as Swahili and afan oromo also known as oromo this year.

1. English language.

With no doubt or fact, English language is the widest language spoken in the world today including the most spoken language in Africa. When writing this post, I made researches so as to be sure before writing this post. During researches, many put Arabic as first and swahili as second while some put Swahili as first and Arabic as second. I also search internet and there is no difference. I refuse to believe.

I personally have successfully travelled to 5 Africans country in a year and I refused to be ignore what I know. If not English, I will not be able to talk in all those five countries. I asked a Geography professor why people never rate English which is the world most spoken language and French which is the number two world most spoken language and he said, ”Only a fool will ignore english. You do not need to count devil when counting sinners. It is already known”.

So, English is the number one most spoken language In AFRICA. In most Africans school, apart from the region native language, French and English are also added into subjects; failing of English is automatically rejection as English and mathematics are core subjects.

English is always a secondary dialect in Africa countries except Liberia and sierra Leone which made it their primary dialect; But their is no fact it is the widest as far as all countries in Africa speaks it.

2. Arabic-

Arabic is chosen as the most spoken language in Africa at 2021. But, English comes first even though it is not to be written; Then,  Arabic is listed at the number two. For Years, Arabic and Swahili has been interchangeably changing position. From first to second and vice versa (from second to first).

Arabic is known to be spoken by over one hundred and fifty million (150 millions) Africans. So, it is listed as one of the most spoken language in Africa

Initially, seeing Arabic as the number two African spoken languages may come as a surprise to many people because of it being a foreign language But it (Arabic) together with English language shows the external force of language in Africa.

Arabic is mostly seen as an official language in some countries like Egypt, Comoros, Chad, Algeria, Libya Mauritania, Morocco, and Djibouti.

Arabic Is mostly concentrated in north Africa. It is one of the top languages spoken in the world and it is so shocking that more than 60% of the Arabic speakers are from Africa.

3. Swahili.

Swahili and Arabic has been interchangeably exchanging position over years.

Swahili, which is also known as Kiswahili in the native tongue, is a Bantu language spoken by over one hundred and twenty (120) million Africans in the African Great Lakes region in southern and Central Africa.

It is the official language in Burundi, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Mozambique,Uganda, sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. So, it is one of the most spoken language in Africa.

4. Oromo:

Oromo is also known as Afaan Oromo. It is so shocking to me to put oromo in this state. It has never happened before and I will be the first person to grade it as number 3 (removing english language). Oromo is also known as Afaan oromo. In Africa, Nigeria is the most populated country followed by Ethiopia. The whole country of Ethiopia speaks two languages officially which is Ahmaric And Afan Oromo.

The main reason why Afan Oromo is graded higher that Ahmaric Is because it is also spoken in some countries like Kenya, Somalia and Egypt. Afan Oromo alone takes up to 45% of the whole Ethiopia. It is spoken by over a hundred million (100,000,000) which is enough to make it part of the most spoken language in Africa.

5. Hausa language:-

As stated when talking about afan oromo, Nigeria is the most populated country in Africa. There are over 25 languages spoken in just that one country. 50% of the population spend Hausa; 30% speaks Yoruba and about 20% speaks Igbo. Other languages like Fulani and Tiv are also part of the languages spoken but they are all categorized under Hausa because those three languages (Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa) are the three ethnic groups known to Nigerians.

Apart from Nigeria, Hausa is spoken in Niger, Benin, Togo, Cameroon, burkina faso, Ghana, and Chad. Hausa Is graded by us as the number 5 most spoken language in Africa.

6. French language.

Francais also known as French in English language is the number two world wide spoken language after English. In most Africans school, apart from the region native language, French and English are also added into subjects to educate and teach the students languages used internationally. In some areas, such as Abidjan, Ivory Coast, and Gabon.

The French language is spoken in the highest percentage in Mauritius, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, Sao Tome e Principe, Seychelles (smallest country in Africa) and Guinea. The fact that it has approximately 90 million speakers in Africa comes as no big surprise to any sane person then.

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7. Yoruba language

Yoruba language is one of the sweetest language in Africa. It is the number two most spoken language in Nigeria after Hausa. Lagos state known as ”eko” in Yoruba is the smallest state in terms of land mass in Nigeria out of 37 states in total. It is so shocking that same state is also the most populated state in Africa. It is surely own by Yoruba.

More than 15 millions people base in Lagos alone and more than 10 million of them understands Yoruba. Up to 3 million are trying to learn. Ibadan city is also In Nigeria. It is the largest city in land mass. It is also a Yoruba land. Oyo state is one of the place Yoruba originated from.

Over 70 millions Yoruba speakers are from Nigeria alone while some countries like Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, and Sierra Leone speak it in their day to day activities. So, this is also part of the most spoken languages in Africa.

9. Ahmaric –

As said earlier, Ethiopia is the number two most populated country in Africa after Nigeria. Ethiopia speaks 2 official languages ( that is Afaan ormo and Ahmaric). In otherwise, these two languages is automatically part of the top 2 since it is not only spoken in Ethiopia but in some other countries.

Amharic is one of the very few languages having its own letter alphabet, while most others use Latin or Arabic letters. This is spoken by over 50 million people in Africa. It is also a native language for Ethiopia. In other words, this is also part of the most spoken language in Africa.

10. Zulu:

Zulu is also known as isiZulu. It is one of South Africa’s country official languages. Branching out from the Bantu and Nguni family of languages, Zulu has more than 15 million speakers, and is the second most widely spoken Bantu language after Shona language. Shona can not be written before Zulu because it is spoken mostly in the city on Zimbabwe. It is not even their official language.

It (Zulu) is written using the alphabet of the Latin word and is influenced by the Khoisan language whose accounts for the unique of the “clicking” sounds within the dialect. Also, this is also part of the most spoken languages in Africa.

 

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