“A Declaration introducing into international relations certain uniform rules with reference to future occupations on the coast of the African Continent. And deeming it expedient that all these several documents should be combined in one single instrument, they (the Signatory Powers) have collected them into one General Act, composed of the following Articles …”
– “General Act of the Berlin Conference on West Africa” (26 February 1885) – an agreement among some of the European powers
Many of the contemporary languages of Africa came to the continent from elsewhere …
Many of the contemporary languages of Africa came to the continent from elsewhere. Even the Arabic language arrived from the Middle East, although this was fairly early in (North) African history. Arabic is the dominant language of Muslim North Africa today, as you may know. But many other languages on the African continent arrived from Europe, during the “Scramble for Africa” – which was mostly during the nineteenth century. Thus, the languages of English, French, and Portuguese are among the most spoken languages on this continent. To a lesser degree, Spanish is also spoken in certain parts of Africa, and has a presence there. This would surprise many, because we expect Africans to speak various languages that are native to the continent (such as Swahili – or “Kiswahili,” as it is sometimes called). And, very often, they do speak native African languages. But the European languages also have a strong presence in Africa, which is a legacy of the past colonization there. How did all of this happen, you might be wondering? That is what this post will be undertaking to explain. I have discussed other African colonies from Germany and Italy in another post, and their various effects on the World Wars (more about that here). Thus, I will not attempt to duplicate much of that coverage here. Rather, I will instead focus this post on the bigger colonization by Britain, France, Belgium, Spain, and Portugal – some of which were very influential, as I will show later on. I will also throw in a number of country names – and, at times, dates. But it is not expected that the reader will remember any of these details. Rather, I just hope that I will convey the feeling of how complicated these geopolitics were, and answer a possible reader’s question about how these European languages came to be in Africa. This came in the context of European colonization elsewhere in the world.
Front view of fort São João Baptista – Portuguese Benin, 1917
How Portuguese became a major African language (and Spanish a minor one)
The Portuguese language arrived in Africa during the European Renaissance. That is, the Portuguese began their colonization of Africa back in the fifteenth century. Specifically, they colonized Cape Verde in 1462, São Tomé and Príncipe in 1470, and the Gold Coast in 1482. In the sixteenth century, the Portuguese then colonized Mozambique in 1505, Angola in 1575, and Guinea in 1588. But the Portuguese lost their Gold Coast colony partway through the seventeenth century – specifically, in 1642. The others were retained until the twentieth century. Specifically, the Portuguese lost their Guinea colony in 1974, and lost all of the others in 1975. (More about the loss of Angola here.) Guinea later became the nation of Guinea-Bassau, and the Portuguese Gold Coast later became part of Ghana. In São Tomé and Príncipe, the Fort of São João Baptista de Ajudá became Ouidah, in modern-day Benin. Nonetheless, the Portuguese language remains strong in Africa today, as a result of this past colonization. By contrast, the Spaniards would instead colonize Spanish Guinea (now Equatorial Guinea) in 1778, and the Spanish Sahara (now the Western Sahara) in 1884. This then included Southern Spanish Morocco (now Cape Juby), among other places. The Spaniards then colonized Northern Spanish Morocco in 1912, and Spanish West Africa in 1946. But the Spaniards then lost their protectorate in Morocco in 1946, and their West Africa colony in 1958. The Spaniards also lost their Guinea colony in 1968, and their Sahara colony in 1976. The Spanish colonization also had an effect, but it was lesser than that of the British, Portuguese, or French. Thus, Spanish is a minor (but nonetheless important) African language.
Sahrawi family in Spanish Sahara, between 1970 and 1974
The legacy of African French comes from colonization by France (and also Belgium)
The legacy of the French language also goes back a long way. But the French colonization involves so many names and dates that attempting a chronology therein would be a bit unwieldy. Therefore, I will omit the dates here, and treat this subject in a non-chronological order. In North Africa, the French colonized Algeria, Tunisia, French Morocco, and Fezzan-Ghadames. In Equatorial Africa, the French colonized Gabon, French Cameroun, the French Congo (now the Republic of the Congo), Ubangi-Shari (now the Central African Republic), and French Chad – say that three times fast, if you will. In East Africa, the French had colonized Madagascar, Comoros, and French Somaliland (now Djibouti). They had also colonized scattered islands in the nearby Indian Ocean, including the Isle de France (which is now Mauritius). And in West Africa, the French had colonized Mauritania, Senegal, Albreda (now part of Gambia), French Sudan (now Mali), French Guinea (now Guinea), Ivory Coast, Niger, Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso), French Dahomey (now Benin), French Togoland (now Togo), and the Enclaves of Forcados and Badjibo (in modern Nigeria). As you might expect, most of the African varieties of French came from this colonization by France. But some of it instead comes from the colonization by Belgium. The Belgians have long spoken two languages, which are French and Flemish (not to be confused with “phlegm”). Thus, they brought both of these languages with them, to their short-lived colonies in Africa. The Belgian colonization is geographically simple enough that I feel comfortable throwing in a few dates here. The Belgians began to colonize the Belgian Congo in 1908, and Ruanda-Urundi in 1922. But in 1960, the Belgians lost their colonies in the Congo, as I describe in another post. This later became the “Democratic Republic of the Congo,” as I also describe in that same post. And in 1962, the Belgians then lost their colonies in Ruanda-Urundi, which are now the separate countries of Rwanda and Burundi. Thus, although the Belgians also spoke Flemish, some of the African varieties of French (as mentioned earlier) are owing to this Belgian colonization, rather than that of France. Surprisingly to many people, there are thus more French speakers in Africa than on any other continent. This is one of the surprising legacies of the European colonization there.
Timbuktu in French Sudan (date unknown)
Many beautiful varieties of Black English arose from the British colonization in Africa
But the British colonization may have been the most massive. This is why the English language is spoken in so many places there today. But, like the French colonization, the British colonization involves so many names and dates that attempting a chronology therein would be a bit unwieldy. Therefore, I will again omit the dates here, and likewise treat this subject in a non-chronological order. The British took Egypt, which eventually became the critical location of the Suez Canal. This had been built earlier by the French, as I describe here. Related to this was another British colony in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. While fighting Mussolini in the Second World War, the British took some of the former Italian colonies in Libya, which were Cyrenaica and Tripolitania (now part of the modern nation of Libya). The British also took the Somaliland (now part of Somalia), another region colonized by Fascist (and pre-Fascist) Italy. (For more about the Italian colonization, see this other blog post.) In East Africa, the British instead colonized Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. Elsewhere on this continent (and in the surrounding areas), the British also colonized British Mauritius, Bechuanaland (now Botswana), Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), and the British Seychelles – say all of that three times fast, if you will. In West Africa, the British instead colonized Gambia, British Sierra Leone, Nigeria, British Togoland (today part of Ghana), the British Cameroons (now part of Cameroon and Nigeria), and the British Gold Coast (now Ghana). Some of these had been taken from Germany in the First World War, some years earlier. (More about that here.) Elsewhere on this continent (and in the surrounding areas), the British also colonized Nyasaland (now Malawi), Basutoland (now Lesotho), Swaziland (now Eswatini), Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha – another mouthful of names. Again, some of these are in the surrounding areas. I have covered the British colonization in South Africa and South-West Africa in two other posts (here and here, respectively). Thus, I will not attempt to go into this (more famous) colonization in this post. But here, let me say that this was one of the most important colonies of the British Empire, and of the English language in Africa. The South African variety of English is often classified as “White English,” much like that of Australia or New Zealand. But many beautiful varieties of Black English are spoken in some of these other parts of Africa. These include many major dialects – each of which has its own unique charm.
Opening of the railway in then-British Rhodesia, 1899
How the 1880s Berlin Conference affected the nineteenth-century “Scramble for Africa”
In 1884 and 1885, there was a Berlin Conference (which I quoted earlier in this post) that attempted to settle some of the then-ongoing issues of the “Scramble for Africa.” It is now seen as emblematic of this larger “carving up” of this continent. (For more about the German colonization, and its role in the First World War, see this post.) Thus, when the First World War began, Liberia and Ethiopia were the only African countries that had never been touched by all of this. However, Liberia had been colonized by the distant United States earlier in the nineteenth century, as a place for its former slaves to escape from their slavery, and voluntarily return to Africa – although some were instead forced to go there. (For more on the “Back to Africa” movement, see this link.) Thus, its situation seems to be somewhat different from that of most of the other African colonies. Obviously, many of these African American former slaves spoke English, which is why Black English also has a presence in Liberia today. And Ethiopia was eventually colonized by Italy in the 1930s, as I describe in another post – covering Africa in the World Wars. This would later be important for the Second World War. As Wikipedia notes, though, “Most of Africa was decolonised during the Cold War period. However, the old imperial boundaries and economic systems imposed by the Scramble still affect the politics and economy of African nations today.” (see source) This seems like a good summary of its effects, and explains why so many people in Africa speak these Western European languages.
African Americans depart for Liberia, 1896
Conclusion: European languages came to Africa because of past colonization in the region
Thus, the African colonies had a massive effect on history, in both good and bad ways. The original colonization process was bloody, and their de-colonization process was also fairly messy in and of itself. We are still debating the legacy of these sweeping changes today. But, either way, they may help one to better understand the reasons behind the many official languages of the “African Union.” I might note that there is an important language clause, in the “Protocol on Amendments to the Constitutive Act of the African Union.” The relevant clause in this act contains the following: “The official languages of the [African] Union and all its institutions shall be Arabic, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Kiswahili and any other African language.” (Source: Article 11, as quoted by the website of the African Union) This implies that the four European languages mentioned here are also “African” languages now.
“A Declaration relative to freedom of trade in the basin of the Congo, its embouchures and circumjacent regions, with other provisions connected therewith. A Declaration relative to the slave trade, and the operations by sea or land which furnish slaves to that trade. A Declaration relative to the neutrality of the territories comprised in the Conventional basin of the Congo.”
– “General Act of the Berlin Conference on West Africa” (26 February 1885) – an agreement among some of the European powers, which I also quoted earlier
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