Commissioner El Fadil explained that the AU’s commitment comes against the backdrop of its continued support for the African Academy of Languages (ACALAN), an organization entrusted with the task of developing and promoting African languages so that they can be used in all domains of the society in partnership with inherited colonial languages. Commissioner Fadil explained that the value of a language is not just created; therefore, it is about time that African countries give more support to ACALAN for the promotion and development of African languages. He argued that most African languages can have market value, if they are used from low to high functions, thus escaping from the dominance and hegemony of English. The good news is that most of these languages are cross-border languages – languages that are spoken in more three countries, which makes it possible to achieve. “Language development is inevitably one of the main factors of the sustainable development of a people; therefore, the development of African languages as the pillar of African cultures is an indispensable factor of African integration and development,” he said, adding that the use of African languages will have a direct impact on human development and consequently, social transformation.”

Source: Daily Observer February 16, 2018 02:15 UTC