Projects and initiatives are multiplying in an attempt to bring African languages into the digital world. For those behind these projects, there are many challenges involved in establishing a presence for African languages on the internet.
In this context, digital giant Google has been offering ten new local African languages on its Google Translate service since last May. These languages include Bambara, Linguala, Ewe, and Krio. Their integration into Google's platform aims to accelerate access to knowledge for populations that speak neither English nor French. For example, Linguala is spoken by 45 million people in Angola, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
"African languages are essential to the history of this continent, and therefore play a role in representing that history to the world, particularly in the digital realm, where nearly 80% of content exists in only 10 Western languages," "
said Sinatou Saka, journalist and editorial project manager at Radio France International, in an interview with Adweknow.
Needless to say, this initiative is part of Google's strategy to connect the African continent. A few years ago, the American giant invested $47 billion in the installation of Equiano, a new submarine cable designed to develop high-speed internet in Africa.
Read also: Interview with Sinatou Saka, journalist at RFI in charge of the RFI Challenge App Afrique project