Africa was mostly colonized by Britain, France and Portugal during the scramble for Africa and after a prolonged stay in the continent, the colonized nations adopted the colonizers language as the official language hence there a lot of French speaking African countries.
In 2015, a total of 31 independent states around the world reported French as an official language. If territories are included, the total number increases to 42. Of this total, 21 states are located in Africa, which represents half of the world’s French speaking states and territories.
French Speaking Countries in Africa
How many French speaking countries are there in Africa you may ask, well, a study by the Observatory of the French language, the OIF whose 17th summit was held recently in Yerevan in Armenia, noted that “nearly 60%” of Francophones with “everyday use of the French language ( …) reside in Africa “.
There are approximately 434 million people throughout the world who speak French. However, the country with highest French speaking population is not France. Instead, an African nation, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, tops the list with a total of more than 77 million people. France ranks second,
List of French Speaking Countries in Africa
1. Algeria
2. Benin
3. Burkina Faso
4. Burundi
5. Cameroon
6. Central African Republic
7. Chad
8. Comoros
9. Congo Brazzaville
10. Congo kinshasa
11. Côte d’Ivoire
12. Djibouti
13. Equatorial Guinea
14. Gabon
15. Guinea (konakry)
16. Madagascar
17. Mali
18. Mauritania
19. Mauritius
20. Morocco
21. Niger
22. Rwanda
23. Senegal
24. Seychelles
25. Togo
26. Tunisia
List of French Speaking Countries in Africa where French is recognized as the official language
1. Benin
2. Burkina Faso
3. Burundi (other official language:Kirundi)
4. Cameroon (other official language: English)
5. Cape Verde (Portuguese is the main language)
6. Central African Republic (other official language: Sango)
7. Chad (other official language:Arabic)
8. Comoros (other official languages: Shikomor and Arabic)
9. Democratic Republic of the Congo
10. Republic of the Congo
11. Côte d’Ivoire
12. Djibouti (other official language: Arabic)
13. Egypt
14. Equatorial Guinea (other official languages: Spanish and Portuguese)
15. Gabon
16. Guinea
17. Guinea-Bissau (Main language is Portuguese)
18. Madagascar
19. Mali
20. Mauritania (French is commonly used)
21. Mauritius (French is commonly used)
22. Morocco (French is commonly used)
23. Niger
24. Rwanda (Rwanda recently changed their official language to English but the older generation still speak French)
25. São Tomé and Príncipe (main language is Portuguese)
26. Senegal
27. Seychelles (other official languages: English and Creole)
28. Togo
29. Tunisia ( French is commonly spoken)
