Following the wave of independence of African countries in the 20th century, the project of building a French-speaking space in Africa was essential in order to preserve and extend the influence of France on the continent. Today, Africa has more than 18 contiguous countries sharing French as an official language, making it one of the largest linguistic areas in the world. On what is to become of the Francophonie, opinions differ: some predict a boom, others an inevitable decline.
The International Organization of the Francophonie predicts that the majority of the 500 to 800 million French speakers will be in Africa in 2070, a continent in which the effective use of the French language is in decline. Ibrahim Bayo, a Guinean journalist, believes that “French in Africa remains a language that is the prerogative of a certain elite when it is not drowned in a kind of neo-dialect with national languages to finally not be spoken as its rules would require.”
Moreover, the influence of the OIF would depend on that of France itself, according to Alfred Musiwa, a former Congolese diplomat. He affirms that “in Africa, the influence of France is only a façade. Starting with development aid, which is minimal, while English-speaking powers such as the United States or the United Kingdom are more influential in French-speaking countries than France.”
Moroccans have been demanding a transition to English, namely as a medium of instruction, so as to open endless doors of opportunities for the Kingdom and its citizens in the global marketplace. Those are pleas that did not fall on deaf ears seeing as the Moroccan government is slowly but surely incorporating the English language into its educational system. In Africa, many states have been increasingly looking toward the English language, and more generally integrating the Anglo-Saxon sphere, in order to guarantee their development. More recently, Gabon and Togo joined the Commonwealth in July 2022, citing autonomy in decision-making far from French dominance and openness to the world.
In Rwanda, Francophonie Evokes “Ethnicized Memory”
Rwanda is a member state of the International Organization of the Francophonie since 1970. According to the International Organization of the Francophonie, the number of French speakers in Rwanda is 793 000, which translates to 6% of its population in 2022. The status of the French language is that of an official language along with Kinyarwanda, Swahili, and English.
Louise Mushikiwabo, Secretary General of the Francophonie and former Rwandan Foreign Affairs Minister stated that “Rwanda’s membership in the Francophonie has been affected by Rwanda’s relationship with France, especially from the point of view of perceptions.” Indeed, Rwanda waved the Francophonie goodbye following the 1994 genocide. France’s involvement in the Rwandan genocide continues to be controversial. Kigali has had tense relations with Paris for 25 years, during which time the Rwandan government accused France of complicity in the genocide, a charge France denied.
Recently, in 2021, a commission of fourteen historians on the role of France in Rwanda submitted its report to Emmanuel Macron, who requested it back in 2017. The report mentions “a French president and his inner circle ‘blindly’ supporting a racist and violent regime, despite all warnings: the ‘failure’ of France and its ‘overwhelming responsibilities’ in the 1994 genocide of the Tutsis of Rwanda are exposed in a scathing report.”
Although this report details France’s involvement in Rwanda, it dismisses France’s “complicity” during the genocide. The report comes to the following conclusion: “France ‘remained blind to the preparation of the 1994 Rwandan Tutsi genocide and bears ‘heavy and damning responsibilities’ in the tragedy.” For Kigali, the “major danger menacing this region is an “ethnicized memory”, as each group claims to be the keeper of the truth, and as history separates the good from the bad on an ethnic basis,” states René Lemarchand, an expert on ethnic conflict and genocide in Rwanda.
English Gets the Rwandan Stamp of Approval
To break with a painful episode of its history and make way for development, Rwanda, government, and people decided to sideline the French language. And what better language to adopt than the global and useful language of Shakespeare? Needless to say, the choice was easily made. In terms of education, the official change in 2008 resulted in a purely English medium instruction educational system in Rwanda. The table below illustrates this change in the Language of Instruction (LOI) policy throughout the years.
Source: World Bank Report
The World Bank report goes on to add that Rwanda’s language of instruction policy meets three out of four criteria needed for the policy to thrive: “(1) it is seen as reflecting a new national direction (e.g. post-revolution policy), (2) the national policy reflects a stronger commitment to national identity, and (3) the state is stable and strong enough to resource and align other policies to support it.” The only unmet criteria is the “local appropriation of language policy aligns with national policy, even if it is not enforced.”
Rwandan youth have adapted to the change in the language of instruction from French to English. Boris, a Rwandan student, said that “people haven’t been interested in French for a long time,” Brie, a 22-year-old Rwandan, added: “I speak English in college, but my parents speak French. A lot of people think that once you’re an adult, French is very difficult to learn, and then some people don’t like the language.”
According to Rwandan media outlets, the French language is experiencing a non-negligible decline. Etienne Gatanazi, a former presenter of the French-language news program on national television, notes that “the national radio no longer reads the news in French. On national television, the French news is broadcast after 10:00 p.m., when people are already asleep. Even for stand-up shows, it is the English ones that bring in the most money and attract a large audience.”
Rwanda’s Political Elite: Anglophone Tutsi Refugees
When the French-speaking elite that perpetrated the genocide against the Tutsis went into exile after 1994, it was the English-speaking RPF that replaced them. Paul Kagame, leader of the RPF movement and current President of Rwanda since 2000, speaks only in Kinyarwanda or English. A source close to the government indicated that “the president did not understand French, nor did some ministers. Official documents often had at least one English speaker among the recipients. And French speakers understand English better than the other way around. So, English imposed itself little by little.” Evariste Ntakirutimana, Professor of Sociolinguistics at the University of Rwanda, stated that “the official position was that English was much more open than French in terms of economic and scientific exchanges.”
Indeed, Rwanda has moved closer to the English-speaking area since the genocide in order to break with its past and offer itself new opportunities. Rwanda joined the Commonwealth in 2009. This application, and later membership, came as a great surprise to the international community as Rwanda has never been a British colony. Thus, and as stated by RFI, “by joining the community led by Queen Elizabeth II, Kigali is taking another step and a big one, it must be said, towards the English-speaking world. Even if we will not say it officially, there is undoubtedly something anti-French in this open-armed welcome from a country that has had a serious dispute with France since the 1994 genocide.”
This membership goes hand in hand with President Paul Kagame’s policy of “casting off from the French-speaking world to join the English-speaking fold.” For Rwanda, as Paul Kagame notes, “maybe 90% of trade, and investment is with countries in the region that speak English. So, why don’t we embrace that realistically, without giving up what we already have?”
Indeed, Rwanda, adopting an approach of political and economic pragmatism, does not question its membership in the OIF. Even more so, the former Minister of Information and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation, and the East African Community of Rwanda, Louise Mushikiwabo was elected to the position of Secretary General of the International Organization of the Francophonie at the Yerevan Summit in 2018. She was supported by France and Canada. This support shows a great willingness to reintegrate Rwanda into the French-speaking sphere as it becomes an English-speaking country that fits in with the Anglo-Saxon institutions and community.
Rwanda is currently considered a successful development model and a source of inspiration for developing African states. This rapprochement of African states to English-speaking countries and Anglo-Saxon institutions is a source of anxiety for the Francophonie, which works incessantly to promote its political, economic, and cultural interests in the African continent. Still, and despite the numerous pro-francophonie initiatives in Rwanda or else in Africa, the French influence in the continent is witnessing an unprecedented rejection.
While English is indeed a global language whose mastery opens endless doors of opportunities, it is far from being the main reason why African states are looking more towards the Commonwealth than the Francophonie. In fact, African countries have been increasingly vocal about what Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga described as a “neocolonial, paternalistic and patronizing posture” in France-Africa relations. So long as France’s diplomacy remains unchanged, there is little hope for the preservation of the French language, culture, and values in a continent that is increasingly looking inward and toward the Anglo-Saxon sphere.