Linguistic imperialism & its ramifications on African education & development

This study examines how dominant foreign languages have become an instrument of cultural and educational colonization. In Africa, the continued use of colonial languages, notably English and French, as compulsory official languages of government business is a peculiar situation given that in the majority of African states, less than 50% of the affected populations are fluent in them (both in spoken and written forms) (Altezza Travel News, Top 10 English speaking countries in Africa, 2026). This means that half of the population is already disenfranchised directly or indirectly. The United Nations (Sustainable development goals, 2015) Sustainable Development Goals (Goal number 4) (SDG) calls for inclusive and equitable quality education for all. But under the prevailing language policy in most African schools, inclusive education cannot be attained when 50% of the population is already, by default, disenfranchised. Suppose Africa is serious about promoting its cultural heritage and sovereignty: in that case, it must first focus on decolonising its educational system, which is clustered with nuances of foreign cultures that do not speak to local needs. Far from being a vehicle for transformation, education in Africa has produced dismal results. School curricula framed in colonial languages keep reproducing an inferior African mindset that privileges monolingual teaching and learning using foreign languages. These educational systems have fostered the emergence of a postcolonial class divide in which only a privileged few can access quality education. Thus, Africa’s growth will continue to be unsustainable without properly addressing this foreign language trap and appreciating how it has disempowered locals. Some may argue that Africa is, after all, already developing despite those language deficiencies, especially given that modernization has brought a variety of technological advancements in commerce and trade, mobility, finance, medicine, and agriculture. However, the counterargument is that such acclaimed development has not trickled down to the ordinary subaltern citizen whose welfare the globalization agenda purports to be uplifting. Technological advancements have entrenched marginalization levels of subaltern populations, hence have come at their expense. As Julius Nyerere argued, development that is not tailored towards the needs of local people is irrelevant to them, and may only be of interest to historians in the year 3000 (Nyerere J, Freedom and development. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1974). Further, the continued use of foreign languages as official tongues is counterproductive as it defeats the aims embedded in the African Renaissance project, which envisions promoting African cultural heritages and economic growth using home-grown solutions. In integrating the analysis of cultural and economic dimensions of language policy, this study uses a postcolonial frame as an avenue that efficaciously links the anatomy of foreign language use with cultural colonization. The study recommends a policy change that elevates indigenous languages as official languages so that the use of foreign tongues becomes optional, rather than compulsory. Data for this study were gathered and synthesized through content analysis of literature on language and decoloniality.