Kiswahili, utandawazi na umoja wa Afrika

Abstract

It is a fact that in the recent past, globalization has gradually taken shape in Africa and as such the continent has no choice but to embrace this development. In order for Africa to benefit fully from globalization, various measures must be taken. One of the key measures is the use of one indigenous African language to serve as an official and unifying language throughout the continent. We argue that the language with that potential is Kiswahili. This paper sets out to evaluate the place of Kiswahili as a unifying language in Africa in the era of a globalizing Africa. Globalization in Africa has to do with the coming together of African nations to form a bloc that will cooperate in the social, political and economic fronts. This being the case, the need for a common African language for use across the continent cannot be ignored. The best placed African language, as this paper will demonstrate, is Kiswahili. Journal of Language, Technology & Entrepreneurship in Africa Vol. 1 (2) 2009: pp. 143-150