Colombia announces learning Swahili at school, despite strong criticism from the right

Back from an official trip to Africa, which took her to South Africa, Kenya and Ethiopia, Colombian Vice President Francia Marquez announced Friday, May 26, that she had concluded economic and cultural cooperation agreements, particularly in terms of language, "with Swahili, for Afro-descendants or those who want to learn this language" vernacular of East Africa. The announcement sparked an uproar from the conservative right.

Colombian Vice President Francia Marquez speaks at a press conference at the Nariño Presidential Palace in Bogotá on May 24, 2023. © Juan Pablo Pino / AFP

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With our correspondent in Bogota, Marie-Ève Detœuf

In front of the television cameras, Francia Marquez made a detailed assessment of her official visit to Africa. Swahili erased all other subjects: Marquez announced that Colombian teachers would go to teach Spanish in Africa and that Kenyan teachers, among others, would come to teach Swahili. "It's important," said Francia Marquez, "for building roots and historical memory."

Racist outcry on social networks. In the media the debate was a little more balanced: "Colombians speak very bad English, why teach them Swahili?" asked a former Minister of Education. Other critics have pointed out that the ancestors of Afro-descendant Colombians were enslaved Africans from West Africa and that the country therefore has no connection with Swahili.

Advocates of Swahili pointed out that there has never been any question of making it compulsory in schools and that the teaching of this African language, even on a small scale, can only contribute to the internationalization of Colombia, a country still very closed in on itself.

► Read also: Swahili, an African language with global influence

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  • Colombia
  • Racism
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