French Speaking African Countries

Africa is a diverse continent made up of 54 independent nations, each with its own cultural identity. Three languages, French, English, and Portuguese, are particularly common across the continent. They are spoken by 21, 27, and 6 countries, respectively, and are known as the Francophone, Anglophone, and Lusophone regions of Africa.

Nearly half of the global French-speaking community can be found in Francophone countries. Notable among these are DR Congo, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, and Burkina Faso, which boast significant and diverse populations.

Here Are The 21 Francophone Countries In Africa

1. DR Congo

• Capital: Kinshasa
• Population: 111 million
• French-speaking population: 49 million
• Independence: June 30, 1960 (Belgium)

DR Congo, a Central African nation, is home to about 111 million people, making it one of the largest French-speaking countries in Africa. Nearly half of its population, or 49 million people, speak French as their first or second language.

French is the official language of DR Congo, but it also recognizes four other languages: Kikongo ya leta, Lingala, Swahili, and Tshiluba.

2. Cameroon 

• Capital: Yaounde
• Population: 28.7 million
• French-speaking population: 11.8 million
• Independence: January 1, 1960 (France), October 1, 1961 (UK)

Located in West Africa, Cameroon is the second-most populous French-speaking country in Africa. Out of its 28.7 million people, 11.8 million, or 41.17 percent, use French as their primary or secondary language.

The country has two official languages: French and English. It also has several regional languages, such as Cameroonian Pidgin English, Fula, Ewondo, Chadian Arabic, and Camfranglais.

3. Ivory Coast 

• Capital: Yamoussoukro (political), Abidjan (economic)
• Population: 30.9 million
• French-speaking population: 9.7 million
• Independence: August 7, 1960 (France)

Ivory Coast, located in West Africa, is one of the French-speaking countries on the continent. Out of its 30.9 million inhabitants, 9.7 million (33 percent) speak French as their official language. The rest of the population uses various local languages, such as Bete, Jula, Baule, Abron, Anyin, and Cebaara Senufo.”

4. Madagascar 

• Capital: Antananarivo
• Population: 29,611,714
• French-speaking population: 7,729,277
• Declaration of Independence: June 25, 1960

The island country of Madagascar has Malagasy and French as its official languages. Furthermore, there are 7.7 million French speakers on the island, accounting for 26 percent of its population (29.6 million).

5. Burkina Faso

• Capital: Ouagadougou
• Population: 21,935,389
• French Speaking Population: 5,403,610
• Independence: August 5, 1960 (France)

The landlocked country of West Africa has 5.4 million (24 percent), French speakers, out of its estimated 21.9 million population. Besides French as an official language, there are four national languages; Mossi, Bambara, Dyula, and Fula, and indigenous languages such as Mande, Gur, Senufo, and Hausa.

6. Senegal 

• Capital: Dakar
• Population: 17,923,032
• French Speaking Population: 4,640,365
• Independence: April 4, 1960 (France)

The West African country of Senegal has an estimated population of 17.9 million, and out of this, 4.6 million (26 percent) speak French. In addition to French, Arabic and Wolof are the other two official languages, while Balanta-Ganja, Jola-Fonyi, Mandinka, Mankanya, and Noon are spoken as national languages.

7. Benin

• Capital: Porto-Novo
• Population: 13,763,688
• French Speaking Population: 4,306,099
• Independence: August 1, 1960 (France), October 1, 1960 (UK), July 31, 1961 (Portugal)

There are about 4.3 million French speakers in the West African country of Benin. The French speaker made up 33 percent (13.7 million) of the country’s population, while the rest speak several languages, including Arabic, English, Aguna, Gen, Phera, Waci, Kabye, and Lukpa.

8. Guinea 

• Capital: Conakry
• Population: 13,237,832
• French Speaking Population: 3,776,660
• Independence: October 2, 1958 (France)

27 percent (3.7 million) of Guinea’s population (13.2 million) speak French. Even though the West African country’s official language is French, they also speak several vernacular languages such as Arabic, English, Fula, Malinke, Kissi, Koro, Dan, Dyula, and Maninka.

9. Mali 

• Capital: Bamako
• Population: 21,473,764
• French Speaking Population: 3,702,660
• Independence: June 20, 1960 (France)

Mali, another landlocked country in West Africa uses French as its official language. As a result, there are 3.7 million French speakers accounting for 17 percent of the country’s population (21.4 million).

Also, there are indigenous languages such as Bambara, Bomu, Bozo, Mamara, Maninkakan, and Soninke.

10. Togo

• Capital: Lomé
• Population: 8,608,444
• French Speaking Population: 3,554,266)
• Independence: April 27, 1960 (France)

Located in West Africa, Togo has a population of 8. 6 million people, and of this number, 3.5 million accounting for 40 percent speak French. Besides French being the country’s official language, Arabic, English, German, Ewe, Gbe, Gur, Kwa, Kabiye, Talensi, Wasa, Aguna, and several others are spoken.

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11. Republic of the Congo 

• Capital: Brazzaville
• Population: 5,657,000
• French Speaking Population: 3,518,464
• Independence: August 15, 1960

Republic of the Congo also known as Congo-Brazzaville has 60 percent (3.5 million) of its entire population (5.6 million) as French speakers. The Central African country also recognized Kituba and Lingala as national languages.

12. Niger

• Capital: Niamey
• Population: 24,484,587
• French Speaking Population: 3,362,988
• Independence: August 3, 1960 (France)

Niger, a landlocked country in West Africa has French as its official language. There are 3.3 million French speakers in the country whose population is estimated to be around 24.4 million. By implication, 12 percent of Nigeriens speak French, while 88 percent speak other languages such as Arabic, Buduma, Fulfide, Hausa, Kanuri, Songhai, and Tebu.

13. Chad 

• Capital: N’Djamena
• Population: 17,963,211
• French Speaking Population: 2,249,023
• Independence: August 11, 1960 (France)

Chad is officially called the Republic of Chad with both Modern Standard Arabic and French as official languages. French speakers in the country are about 2.2 million (12.9 percent), and Standard Arabic speakers are 615,000 (0.2 percent). This is in sharp contrast to the Chadian Arabic (vernacular version of Arabic) speakers who make up about 40-60 percent of Chad’s population.

14. Gabon 

• Capital: Libreville
• Population: 2,341,179
• French Speaking Population: 1,519,474
• Independence: August 16-17, 1960

French is the official language of Gabon, a Central African country with an estimated population of 2.3 million people. 1.5 million representing 65 percent of the population speak French. Moreover, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Fang, Mbete, Mynene, Nzebi, Punu, Teke, and Vili are spoken across the regions of the country.

15. The Central African Republic

• Capital: Bangui
• Population: 5,454,533
• French Speaking Population: 1,435,061
• Independence: August 13, 1960 (France)

The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa with a population of 5.4 million people and has French and Sango as official languages. French speakers are estimated to be around 1.4 million, which represents 28% percent of the country’s population.

Besides the two, Ubangian, Runga, Bongo–Bagirmi, and Bantu are indigenous languages.

16. Burundi 

• Capital: Gitega (political), Bujumbura (economic)
• Population: 11,865,821
• French Speaking Population: 1,073,506
• Independence: November 28, 1966 (Belgium)

Burundi has three official languages; Kirundi, French, and English. There are 1.07 million French speakers representing about 8.50 percent of the country’s population (11.8 million), while Kirundi is spoken by the vast majority of Burundians. English on the other hand became the third official langue in 2014.

17. Rwanda

• Capital: Kigali
• Population: 12,955,736
• French Speaking Population: 792,815
• Independence: July 1, 1962 (Belgium)

Out of Rwanda’s estimated 12.9 million population, 792,815 (5.8 percent) speak French, which is one of the country’s official languages alongside Kinyarwanda, English, and Swahili. Moreover, Kinyarwanda is the first language of Rwanda and is spoken in almost the entire country.

18. Djibouti 

• Capital: Djibouti
• Population: 957,273
• French Speaking Population: 17,000
• Independence: September 4, 1992 (France)

Djibouti located in the Eastern horn of Africa has an estimated population of 957,273 people, and has Arabic and French as official languages. Similarly, there are about 17,000 French speakers in the country, while Somali and Afar have 524,000 and 306,000 speakers, respectively.

19. Equatorial Guinea 

• Capital: Malabo (Current), Cuidad de la Paz (under construction)
• Population: 1,468,777
• Percentage of French Speakers: 2.5 Percent
• Independence: October 12, 1986 (Spain)

Equatorial Guinea has an estimated population of 1.4 million people and has two official languages; Spanish and French. Nearly 90 percent speak Spanish, while French is spoken by 2.5 percent of the population. While Portuguese, Pichibglis, Fang, Ibo, Bubi, Annoboneses, Creole English, and German are spoken by the remaining 7.5 percent.

20. Comoros 

• Capital: Moroni
• Population: 850,886
• Independence: July 5, 1975 (France)

The archipelagic country, Comoros has three official languages; Comorian, which is mostly spoken in the country; French, which is used in formal education and administrative dealings; Arabic, which is for religious purposes. These three make up nearly 60 percent of languages spoken by Comorians, while the Bushi language is spoken by 40 percent.

Apart from the official languages, English and Malagasy are spoken by a smaller faction in the country.

21. Seychelles (52,699)

• Capital: Victoria
• Population: 99,331
• Independence: June 29, 1976 (UK)

Seychelles is one of the twenty-one Francophone countries in Africa. It has an estimated population of 99,331 people who speak three official languages; English, French, and Seychellois Creole.

Creole, the country’s first language is used in education, governance, and the media, while English is spoken by a small section of the population and is mostly used in business and governance.

French, the third official language is mostly used in religious activities by the Roman Catholic Church and is also used by a small percentage of the population.