From Francophone to Anglophone

It's not a snub to its colonial masters but the desire to become an international business and IT destination that has prompted this small central African country of Rwanda to become the first among nations who have switched over from being a Francophone country (French as its official language) to an Anglophone (English-speaking) nation.

For decades, the former Belgian colony had been part of Francophone countries. But the smooth transition, that is clearly visible today, is indicative of the fact that English as a language is slowly riding the popularity wave over French across the world. Not only is English the dominant language for business across Europe, but also among African countries today.

The use of English across the expanse of South Africa and the east African countries like Uganda and Kenya has already shown the way.

"In Rwanda today we can say that we have finally moved into the English language zone where government and private sector bodies are using English as the official language," says Aniket Ukey, a resident of Kigali, Rwanda's capital city where traces of French are difficult to find outside the newly opened market spaces and eateries.

In Rwanda, between the transition from French to English, lies an interesting desi touch. Indians have a knack of adding the desi touch to almost anything they can lay their hands on.

"We are moving into another zone which we call as the bilophone, which is a slang for bilingual. So, I call it a bilophone country today. It means a mix of two languages and many a times it has a sprinkle of Hindi words in it," says Aniket.

When we describe a person or place, what comes second to the language we speak is the food we eat. What draws attention is a famous Sharma store in the upmarket lanes of Kigali where many a locals gather. Here, they bump into their Indian friends and get acquainted with Hindi language words which they find easy to learn. Not to miss Indian food items like rajma, which are available here in different colours like orange and light pink.

Another Indian, Nilesh Kanodia, a chartered accountant who came to Rwanda in March 2016 , says, "For prospective business ventures and investors, the country needs to continue to do much more to promote use of English and other languages.” Kanodia has his roots in Rajasthan but his business interests lie in Gujarat. So, when the Rwandan prime minister attended the Vibrant Gujarat summit to invite investors there, Kanodia was all ears.

"To run any business, communication is vital. And friendly communication is possible, when we speak the same language."

Kanodia says, in Rwanda, most business deals and communications are now transacted in English. "Personally, I feel miscommunication and wrong communication create lot of problems in day-to-day business operations."

Rwanda has emerged as an international hub, where people of different nationalities participate from time to time. The hospitality industry is growing rapidly. In 2016, three big international hotels have opened in Kigali itself. Rwanda is also inviting investors from different sectors like pharmacy, real estate, energy, educations and so on.

"I believe if we need to grow with the world, we have to sing the same song with the rest of the world," says Kanodia.