Swahili, Africa's answer to a unified continent? [This is Culture]

The news about the incorporation of the Swahili language into the South African school curriculum continues to spark mixed reactions from all over the continent. Some believe it is a good idea while others do not think it will have any impact on the continent.

The announcement came a few weeks after leader of South Africa’s Economic Freedom Fighters party, Julius Malema, called for the adoption of a common language in Africa, hinting at Swahili being that language.

According to him, a language like Swahili can unite Africans. And this is our focus today. Swahili is a Bantu language believed to have originated from other languages, mainly Arabic, due to historical interactions between Arabs from the Middle East and East Africans. It was the trade language that was created to facilitate communication between a number of Southern and Eastern Africa’s wide variety of ethnic groups.

So the Swahili language is widely spoken in Africa with more than 100 million speakers. Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, DR Congo, northern Mozambique, northern Zambia all speak this language.

Linnete Bahati explains more. @BahatiLinnete