Africa, a continent of immense cultural and linguistic diversity, is home to thousands of languages that reflect its rich history and vibrant cultures. Statista published in 2024 that there are more than 2000 languages in Africa. The number of languages natively spoken in Africa is variously estimated (depending on the delineation of language vs. dialect) at between 1,250 and 2,100, and by some counts at over 3,000.
This article explores the fascinating world of African languages. In it, we’ll answer questions about how many languages are spoken in Africa, the most common languages, and their influence on other languages over the centuries.
Linguistic Map of Africa
Major African Language Families
The languages of those 54 nations can be sorted into four major language families. Most languages natively spoken in Africa belong to one of the two large language families that dominate the continent: Afroasiatic, or Niger-Congo. Another hundred belong to smaller families such as Ubangian, Nilotic, Saharan, and the various families previously grouped under the umbrella term Khoisan.
Afroasiatic Languages
The Afroasiatic language family extends from North Africa along to the Horn of Africa and into Southwest Asia. Afroasiatic languages are spoken throughout North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Western Asia and parts of the Sahel. Many languages in Africa are part of this group, which encompasses around 375 languages in total. There are approximately 375 Afroasiatic languages spoken by over 400 million people. Some of the most spoken African languages in this group include Arabic, Amharic, Somali, Oromo, Tamazight, and Hausa.
Read also: Experience Fad's Fine African Cuisine
Nilo-Saharan Languages
The tonal Nilo-Saharan languages are something of an odd grouping, with linguists holding some heated discussions about which languages should and shouldn’t be considered members of this family. Nilo-Saharan languages are a proposed grouping of some one hundred diverse languages. Some of the better known Nilo-Saharan languages are Kanuri, Fur, Songhay, Nobiin and the widespread Nilotic family, which includes the Luo, Dinka and Maasai. The most common African language in this group is Kanuri, with between four and five million speakers.
Niger-Congo Languages
Covering Central, West, and Southeast Africa, the Niger-Congo language family contains around 1,400 distinct languages (as opposed to dialects). The Niger-Congo languages constitute the largest language family spoken in West Africa and perhaps the world in terms of the number of languages. It is the largest of the African language families in terms of both language numbers and speaker numbers. The Niger-Congo languages are spoken over the majority of sub-Saharan Africa. Around 85% of Africans speak one or more Niger-Congo languages. One of its salient features is an elaborate noun class system with grammatical concord. Swahili has more total speakers than any other Niger-Congo language, while Yoruba has the greatest number of native speakers out of any language in the Niger-Congo family. Igbo, Fula, Shona and Zulu also have 10+ million speakers.
Khoisan Languages
Centered around the Namibia and Botswana deserts, Khoisan languages are notable for their click consonants. The three small Khoisan families of southern Africa have not been shown to be closely related to any other major language family. These tonal languages include five unrelated language families, including two language isolates (Sandawe and Hadza, which are both spoken in Tanzania). Khoisan is a term of convenience covering some 30 languages spoken by around 300,000-400,000 people. A striking feature of Khoisan languages, and the reason they are often grouped together, is their use of click consonants.
Other Language Groups in Africa
Languages from families outside of the African continent are also spoken there. Many African creoles also use Indo-European lexifiers. Madagascar’s language - Malagasy - is Austronesian, for example, while Afrikaans is Indo-European.
Top 10 Most Spoken Languages in Africa 2020
The Most Spoken Languages in Africa
Having looked at the main language groups, I want to examine some of the most spoken languages in Africa. What are the 10 most spoken African languages?
Read also: The Story Behind Cachapas
Most Spoken Languages in Africa
It’s actually a close call between Arabic and Swahili.
Arabic
While Arabic has around 280 million speakers in total, making it the world’s sixth most spoken language, not all of them hail from Africa. In fact, there are around 150 million Arabic speakers in Africa. With over 170 million speakers, Arabic is the most widespread official language in Africa. Spoken in many African countries, the Swahili language has Arabic roots and began as a trading language between the Bantu people of the East African coast and traders from Arabia and Persia. More than 100 million people speak Egyptian Arabic, making it one of the most widely spoken of all the African languages.
Swahili
Swahili also has around 150 million speakers. Spoken by over 100 million people, Swahili is the most widely spoken native language in East Africa. It is used as a lingua franca in much of Africa, with many people speaking it as a second or third language in order to facilitate communication with those who don’t speak their native tongue.
Hausa
The total number of Hausa speakers is in the region of 75 million, with around 47 million of those speaking it as a first language. Dominant in West Africa, Hausa is spoken by around 50 million people. One of the major African languages on the western side of the continent, Hausa is spoken mainly in Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, Benin and Chad.
Read also: Techniques of African Jewellery
Fula
Stretching across some 20 countries in Central and West Africa, Fula has 65 million speakers when all of its dialects are counted. This makes it one of the most spoken West African languages. Unlike most Niger-Congo languages, Fula isn’t tonal.
Yoruba
Another western Africa language with vast numbers of speakers is Yoruba. It is spoken by somewhere between 45 million and 55 million people, most of them located in southwestern Nigeria.
Igbo
Igbo has around 45 million native speakers, mainly clustered in eastern Nigeria, where it has major language status. It is also recognised as a minority language in Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon.
Oromo
Also called Afaan Oromoo, this language is spoken by around 30 million people. They include more then 40% of Ethiopia’s population, as well as significant speaker numbers in Kenya, Somalia and Egypt.
Amharic
Next on our African languages list is Amharic. More than 20 million Ethiopians speak Amharic, making it the third most common language in Africa. It is used as a lingua franca within Ethiopia, as well as being the native tongue of a large part of the country’s population.
Somali
One of the most widely spoken Sub Saharan Africa languages over on the eastern side of the continent is Somali. Somali is spoken natively by well over 18 million people and is an official language in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somaliland and Somalia, as well as a recognised minority language in Kenya.
Zulu
Zulu is spoken natively by around 12 million Africans, as well as being used as a second language by some 16 million people. It is one 11 official languages in South Africa, where it is spoken by around 23% of the population. Also called isiZulu, this language is used in Lesotho and Eswatini as well. This language, distinctive for its click consonants, has over 11 million speakers in South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Extinct African Languages
Sadly, as we’re witnessing around the world, languages are dropping out of use, moving from being endangered to becoming extinct. More than 300 African languages are endangered at present and over 50 languages are entirely extinct.
Examples of some of these include:
- Numidian
- Kwadi
- Duli
- Gey
- Nagumi
- Yeni
- Horo
- Muskum
- Ngbee
- Geez
- Punic
- Gafat
- Mesmes
- Weyto
- Baga Kaloum
- Baga Sobané
- Esuma
- Elmolo
- Kore
- Omotik
- Vazimba
- Ajawa
- Auyokawa
- Basa-Gumna
- Gamo-Ningi
- Kpati
- Kubi
- Mawa
- Teshenawa
The Importance of Learning African Languages
There are plenty of reasons to learn one or more of the different African languages. Businesses wishing to operate on the continent need to deliver their services in the most spoken languages in Africa, as well as in some of the less widely spoken local languages in areas where their company has a presence. Anyone wishing to travel across Africa would also do well to learn the basics or one or more of the most common languages in Africa, in order to help facilitate their travels.
Making clear that you’ve made an effort to learn is a great way to show you respect the local environment in which you find yourself. Of course, it’s also a wonderful experience to learn a language - whether an African language or another - for the sheer joy of it.
