The Ugandan Government Allocates $800m to Teach and Promote Kiswahili
Kiswahili is the most spoken African language, with a speaker population of approximately 200 million people worldwide spread across 14 countries, including Uganda. The language was adopted as the official and unifying African language on July 7th, 2022 after the announcement of the Kiswahili Language Day by the United Nations.
Why Uganda is Investing Heavily in Teaching Kiswahili
According to Ethnologue, 43 languages are spoken in Uganda. Amongst these, 41 are indigenous, and two are non-indigenous. Furthermore, five are institutional, twenty-six are developing, six are vigorous, four are in trouble, and two are dying. As of 2024, English remains the official language of Uganda, with about 2.5 million speakers out of a population of over 34.9 million people, all of whom speak it as a second language.
Kiswahili (Swahili) is the second official and most widely spoken language, with 34.1 million speakers, of whom 313,000 speak it as their first language and 33.8 million people speak it as their L2.
In a bid to encourage unity and regional integration, the government has allocated the sum of $800 million to teach Kiswahili in schools, offices, and other public sectors. This initiative will allow for easy communication amongst Ugandans and other East African Nations as Kiswahili is the most spoken language in the region. Read $800 million budgeted to teach Ugandan Kiswahili to learn more about this initiative.
