East African Community mulls French as official language

Arusha. French could in the near future become an official language of the East African Community (EAC) in addition to English.and Swahili.

This emerged last week after the French government agreed to assist the EAC in conducting a study on the modalities to include French as an official language of the Community.

The support comes after the EAC requested the French government to support a study on the modalities to include French as a language of the Community in addition to English.

The request from the EAC Secretariat came as part of implementing the directive of the Resolution No. 25 of the 15th Summit of Heads of State of the EAC held on November 30, 2013.

The French Ambassador to Tanzania, Frederic Clavier, said his country was willing to assist the EAC in conducting a study on the modalities “to include French as one of the official languages of the EAC”.

“We are dedicated to support the execution of the study in order to contribute to social and economic development of the integration agenda,” he pointed out.

He spoke after the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between his country and the EAC on how to kick start a process to add French as another official language of the Community through a study.

According to him,the study would cost an estimated 42,511 euros - and that it would be covered by the French Embassy in Burundi. The embassy would regularly update the EAC on the progress of the study.

The EAC Secretary General, Liberat Mfumukeko, expressed appreciation to the French government for its support for the initiative, urging Paris to increase its support to other EAC programmes and projects.