Top 12 English Speaking Countries in Africa

1. South Africa

Topping our list of the top 12 English-speaking countries in Africa is South Africa. British settlers first landed in the South African region in 1795, with a significant influx of English speakers occurring in 1820. Approximately 5,000 British settlers, predominantly from rural or working-class backgrounds, established themselves in the Eastern Cape. To promote the use of English in the colony, officials recruited British schoolmasters and Scottish clergy to take up roles in education and the church. In the 1840s and 1850s, another group of English speakers, including retired military personnel and aristocrats, arrived along with the Natal settlers. A third wave of English settlers, bringing diverse English dialects, arrived between 1875 and 1904. Despite their arrival, the influence of these last two waves on South African English (SAE) was not as significant, as the groundwork for its development had already been laid in 1820.

Black South African English, known as BSAE, is used by individuals whose primary language is one of the indigenous African languages. BSAE is categorized as a new form of English, as it has developed within the education system among individuals who speak English as a second language in regions where English is not the dominant language. At least two sociolinguistic variations have been thoroughly examined along a post-creole continuum for second-language Black South African English, which is spoken by the majority of Black South Africans. According to the Central Statistical Services, approximately 7 million black individuals in South Africa were English speakers as of 1994. The emergence of Black South African English (BSAE) can be traced back to the South African school system, particularly with the implementation of the 1953 Bantu Education Act, which mandated the use of indigenous African languages in classrooms. Consequently, English spoken in black schools developed distinct patterns of pronunciation and syntax, giving rise to BSAE. These characteristic features often have connections to the mother tongues of early BSAE speakers. Although the policy of promoting mother tongues in schools was not successful, by 1979, the Department of Bantu Education allowed schools to choose their language of instruction. English became the preferred language, seen as a crucial tool for social and economic progress.

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Disclosure: None. Top 12 English Speaking Countries in Africa is originally published on Insider Monkey.