CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html> <html class="client-nojs vector-feature-language-in-header-enabled vector-feature-language-in-main-page-header-disabled vector-feature-sticky-header-disabled vector-feature-page-tools-pinned-disabled vector-feature-toc-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-main-menu-pinned-disabled vector-feature-limited-width-clientpref-1 vector-feature-limited-width-content-enabled vector-feature-custom-font-size-clientpref-1 vector-feature-appearance-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-night-mode-disabled skin-theme-clientpref-day vector-toc-available" lang="en" dir="ltr"> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8"> <title>Sub-Saharan Africa - Strategic Planning</title> <script>(function(){var className="client-js vector-feature-language-in-header-enabled vector-feature-language-in-main-page-header-disabled vector-feature-sticky-header-disabled vector-feature-page-tools-pinned-disabled vector-feature-toc-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-main-menu-pinned-disabled vector-feature-limited-width-clientpref-1 vector-feature-limited-width-content-enabled vector-feature-custom-font-size-clientpref-1 vector-feature-appearance-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-night-mode-disabled skin-theme-clientpref-day vector-toc-available";var cookie=document.cookie.match(/(?:^|; )strategywikimwclientpreferences=([^;]+)/);if(cookie){cookie[1].split('%2C').forEach(function(pref){className=className.replace(new RegExp('(^| )'+pref.replace(/-clientpref-\w+$|[^\w-]+/g,'')+'-clientpref-\\w+( |$)'),'$1'+pref+'$2');});}document.documentElement.className=className;}());RLCONF={"wgBreakFrames":false,"wgSeparatorTransformTable":["",""],"wgDigitTransformTable":["",""],"wgDefaultDateFormat" :"dmy","wgMonthNames":["","January","February","March","April","May","June","July","August","September","October","November","December"],"wgRequestId":"9cc37cdd-d210-4924-9a85-2eab0ce8558d","wgCanonicalNamespace":"","wgCanonicalSpecialPageName":false,"wgNamespaceNumber":0,"wgPageName":"Sub-Saharan_Africa","wgTitle":"Sub-Saharan Africa","wgCurRevisionId":55236,"wgRevisionId":55236,"wgArticleId":15085,"wgIsArticle":true,"wgIsRedirect":false,"wgAction":"view","wgUserName":null,"wgUserGroups":["*"],"wgCategories":["Autotranslated articles","Reach","Africa","Sub-Saharan Africa","Wikimedia-pedia"],"wgPageViewLanguage":"en","wgPageContentLanguage":"en","wgPageContentModel":"wikitext","wgRelevantPageName":"Sub-Saharan_Africa","wgRelevantArticleId":15085,"wgIsProbablyEditable":false,"wgRelevantPageIsProbablyEditable":false,"wgRestrictionEdit":[],"wgRestrictionMove":[],"wgNoticeProject":"wikimedia","wgCiteReferencePreviewsActive":true,"wgMediaViewerOnClick":true,"wgMediaViewerEnabledByDefault": true,"wgVisualEditor":{"pageLanguageCode":"en","pageLanguageDir":"ltr","pageVariantFallbacks":"en"},"wgMFDisplayWikibaseDescriptions":{"search":true,"watchlist":true,"tagline":false,"nearby":true},"wgCentralAuthMobileDomain":false,"wgEditSubmitButtonLabelPublish":true,"wgULSPosition":"personal","wgULSisCompactLinksEnabled":false,"wgVector2022LanguageInHeader":true,"wgULSisLanguageSelectorEmpty":false,"wgCheckUserClientHintsHeadersJsApi":["brands","architecture","bitness","fullVersionList","mobile","model","platform","platformVersion"],"wgSiteNoticeId":"2.0"};RLSTATE={"ext.globalCssJs.user.styles":"ready","site.styles":"ready","user.styles":"ready","ext.globalCssJs.user":"ready","user":"ready","user.options":"loading","ext.cite.styles":"ready","skins.vector.search.codex.styles":"ready","skins.vector.styles":"ready","skins.vector.icons":"ready","ext.wikimediamessages.styles":"ready","ext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.noscript":"ready","ext.uls.pt":"ready", "ext.dismissableSiteNotice.styles":"ready"};RLPAGEMODULES=["ext.cite.ux-enhancements","site","mediawiki.page.ready","mediawiki.toc","skins.vector.js","ext.centralNotice.geoIP","ext.centralNotice.startUp","ext.urlShortener.toolbar","ext.centralauth.centralautologin","mmv.bootstrap","ext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.init","ext.visualEditor.targetLoader","ext.echo.centralauth","ext.eventLogging","ext.uls.interface","ext.checkUser.clientHints","ext.dismissableSiteNotice"];</script> <script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.loader.impl(function(){return["user.options@12s5i",function($,jQuery,require,module){mw.user.tokens.set({"patrolToken":"+\\","watchToken":"+\\","csrfToken":"+\\"}); }];});});</script> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=ext.cite.styles%7Cext.dismissableSiteNotice.styles%7Cext.uls.pt%7Cext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.noscript%7Cext.wikimediamessages.styles%7Cskins.vector.icons%2Cstyles%7Cskins.vector.search.codex.styles&only=styles&skin=vector-2022"> <script async="" src="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=startup&only=scripts&raw=1&skin=vector-2022"></script> <meta name="ResourceLoaderDynamicStyles" content=""> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=site.styles&only=styles&skin=vector-2022"> <meta name="generator" content="MediaWiki 1.44.0-wmf.5"> <meta name="referrer" content="origin"> <meta name="referrer" content="origin-when-cross-origin"> <meta name="robots" content="max-image-preview:standard"> <meta name="format-detection" content="telephone=no"> <meta property="og:image" content="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Slow_growth_Sub-Saharan_African_language_Wikipedias.png"> <meta property="og:image:width" content="1200"> <meta property="og:image:height" content="740"> <meta property="og:image" content="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/39/Slow_growth_Sub-Saharan_African_language_Wikipedias.png/800px-Slow_growth_Sub-Saharan_African_language_Wikipedias.png"> <meta property="og:image:width" content="800"> <meta property="og:image:height" content="493"> <meta property="og:image" content="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/39/Slow_growth_Sub-Saharan_African_language_Wikipedias.png/640px-Slow_growth_Sub-Saharan_African_language_Wikipedias.png"> <meta property="og:image:width" content="640"> <meta property="og:image:height" content="395"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=1120"> <meta property="og:title" content="Sub-Saharan Africa - Strategic Planning"> <meta property="og:type" content="website"> <link rel="preconnect" href="//upload.wikimedia.org"> <link rel="alternate" media="only screen and (max-width: 640px)" href="//strategy.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/Sub-Saharan_Africa"> <link rel="icon" href="/static/favicon/community.ico"> <link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="/w/rest.php/v1/search" title="Strategic Planning (en)"> <link rel="EditURI" type="application/rsd+xml" href="//strategy.wikimedia.org/w/api.php?action=rsd"> <link rel="canonical" href="https://strategy.wikimedia.org/wiki/Sub-Saharan_Africa"> <link rel="license" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/atom+xml" title="Strategic Planning Atom feed" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:RecentChanges&feed=atom"> <link rel="dns-prefetch" href="//meta.wikimedia.org" /> <link rel="dns-prefetch" href="//login.wikimedia.org"> </head> <body class="skin--responsive skin-vector skin-vector-search-vue mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject page-Sub-Saharan_Africa rootpage-Sub-Saharan_Africa skin-vector-2022 action-view"><a class="mw-jump-link" href="#bodyContent">Jump to content</a> <div class="vector-header-container"> <header class="vector-header mw-header"> <div class="vector-header-start"> <nav class="vector-main-menu-landmark" aria-label="Site"> <div id="vector-main-menu-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-main-menu-dropdown vector-button-flush-left vector-button-flush-right" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-main-menu-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-main-menu-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Main menu" > <label id="vector-main-menu-dropdown-label" for="vector-main-menu-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-menu mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-menu"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Main menu</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-main-menu-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> <div id="vector-main-menu" class="vector-main-menu vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-main-menu-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-unpinned" data-feature-name="main-menu-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-main-menu" data-pinned-container-id="vector-main-menu-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-main-menu-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Main menu</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-main-menu.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-main-menu.unpin">hide</button> </div> <div id="p-News" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-News" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> News </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="n-mainpage-description" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Main_Page" title="Visit the main page [z]" accesskey="z"><span>Main page</span></a></li><li id="n-may2011update" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/May_2011_Update"><span>May 2011 Update</span></a></li><li id="n-strategic" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikimedia_Movement_Strategic_Plan_Summary"><span>Strategic plan Summary</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-Community" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-Community" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Community </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="n-movement" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Strategic_Plan/Movement_Priorities"><span>Movement Priorities</span></a></li><li id="n-mediapedia" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikimedia-pedia"><span>Wikimedia-pedia</span></a></li><li id="n-process" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Process"><span>Our process</span></a></li><li id="n-Village-pump" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Village_pump"><span>Village pump</span></a></li><li id="n-globaldev" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Global_Development"><span>Global Development</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-navigation" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-navigation" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Navigation </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="n-recentchanges" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:RecentChanges" title="A list of recent changes in the wiki [r]" accesskey="r"><span>Recent changes</span></a></li><li id="n-sitemap" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Sitemap"><span>Sitemap</span></a></li><li id="n-randompage" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:Random" title="Load a random page [x]" accesskey="x"><span>Random page</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <a href="/wiki/Main_Page" class="mw-logo"> <img class="mw-logo-icon" src="/static/images/icons/metawiki.svg" alt="" aria-hidden="true" height="50" width="50"> <span class="mw-logo-container skin-invert"> <img class="mw-logo-wordmark" alt="Strategic Planning" src="/static/images/mobile/copyright/strategywiki-wordmark.svg" style="width: 8.875em; height: 1.75em;"> </span> </a> </div> <div class="vector-header-end"> <div id="p-search" role="search" class="vector-search-box-vue vector-search-box-collapses vector-search-box-show-thumbnail vector-search-box-auto-expand-width vector-search-box"> <a href="/wiki/Special:Search" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only search-toggle" title="Search Strategic Planning [f]" accesskey="f"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-search mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-search"></span> <span>Search</span> </a> <div class="vector-typeahead-search-container"> <div class="cdx-typeahead-search cdx-typeahead-search--show-thumbnail cdx-typeahead-search--auto-expand-width"> <form action="/w/index.php" id="searchform" class="cdx-search-input cdx-search-input--has-end-button"> <div id="simpleSearch" class="cdx-search-input__input-wrapper" data-search-loc="header-moved"> <div class="cdx-text-input cdx-text-input--has-start-icon"> <input class="cdx-text-input__input" type="search" name="search" placeholder="Search Strategic Planning" aria-label="Search Strategic Planning" autocapitalize="sentences" title="Search Strategic Planning [f]" accesskey="f" id="searchInput" > <span class="cdx-text-input__icon cdx-text-input__start-icon"></span> </div> <input type="hidden" name="title" value="Special:Search"> </div> <button class="cdx-button cdx-search-input__end-button">Search</button> </form> </div> </div> </div> <nav class="vector-user-links vector-user-links-wide" aria-label="Personal tools"> <div class="vector-user-links-main"> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-preferences" class="vector-menu mw-portlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-uls" class="mw-list-item active user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="#" class="uls-trigger cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-language mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-wikimedia-language"></span> <span>English</span></a> </li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-userpage" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <nav class="vector-appearance-landmark" aria-label="Appearance"> <div id="vector-appearance-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown " title="Change the appearance of the page's font size, width, and color" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-appearance-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-appearance-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Appearance" > <label id="vector-appearance-dropdown-label" for="vector-appearance-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-appearance mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-appearance"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Appearance</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-appearance-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-notifications" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-overflow" class="vector-menu mw-portlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-sitesupport-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="//donate.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FundraiserRedirector?utm_source=donate&utm_medium=sidebar&utm_campaign=C13_strategy.wikimedia.org&uselang=en" class=""><span>Donate</span></a> </li> <li id="pt-login-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=Sub-Saharan+Africa" title="You are encouraged to log in; however, it is not mandatory [o]" accesskey="o" class=""><span>Log in</span></a> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <div id="vector-user-links-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-user-menu vector-button-flush-right vector-user-menu-logged-out user-links-collapsible-item" title="More options" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-user-links-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-user-links-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Personal tools" > <label id="vector-user-links-dropdown-label" for="vector-user-links-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-ellipsis mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-ellipsis"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Personal tools</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="p-personal" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-personal user-links-collapsible-item" title="User menu" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-sitesupport" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="//donate.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FundraiserRedirector?utm_source=donate&utm_medium=sidebar&utm_campaign=C13_strategy.wikimedia.org&uselang=en"><span>Donate</span></a></li><li id="pt-login" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=Sub-Saharan+Africa" title="You are encouraged to log in; however, it is not mandatory [o]" accesskey="o"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-logIn mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-logIn"></span> <span>Log in</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </header> </div> <div class="mw-page-container"> <div class="mw-page-container-inner"> <div class="vector-sitenotice-container"> <div id="siteNotice"><div id="mw-dismissablenotice-anonplace"></div><script>(function(){var node=document.getElementById("mw-dismissablenotice-anonplace");if(node){node.outerHTML="\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-dismissable-notice\"\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-dismissable-notice-close\"\u003E[\u003Ca tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\"\u003Edismiss\u003C/a\u003E]\u003C/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-dismissable-notice-body\"\u003E\u003C!-- CentralNotice --\u003E\u003Cdiv id=\"localNotice\" data-nosnippet=\"\"\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"sitenotice\" lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Ccenter\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"width: 98%; background: #FDB93C; padding: 10px; font-size: 16pt; color: #000;\"\u003EThis site is read-only per \u003Ca href=\"https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Proposals_for_closing_projects/Closure_of_Strategy_Wiki\" class=\"extiw\" title=\"m:Proposals for closing projects/Closure of Strategy Wiki\"\u003Ecommunity discussion\u003C/a\u003E. \u003Cbr /\u003E There is currently \u003Ca href=\"https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Movement_Strategy\" class=\"extiw\" title=\"m:Movement Strategy\"\u003EMovement Strategy\u003C/a\u003E process running.\u003C/div\u003E\u003C/center\u003E\u003C/div\u003E\u003C/div\u003E\u003C/div\u003E\u003C/div\u003E";}}());</script></div> </div> <div class="vector-column-start"> <div class="vector-main-menu-container"> <div id="mw-navigation"> <nav id="mw-panel" class="vector-main-menu-landmark" aria-label="Site"> <div id="vector-main-menu-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="vector-sticky-pinned-container"> <nav id="mw-panel-toc" aria-label="Contents" data-event-name="ui.sidebar-toc" class="mw-table-of-contents-container vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-toc-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> <div id="vector-toc" class="vector-toc vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-toc-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-pinned" data-feature-name="toc-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-toc" > <h2 class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Contents</h2> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-toc.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-toc.unpin">hide</button> </div> <ul class="vector-toc-contents" id="mw-panel-toc-list"> <li id="toc-mw-content-text" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a href="#" class="vector-toc-link"> <div class="vector-toc-text">Beginning</div> </a> </li> <li id="toc-Select_Sub-Saharan_African_languages_and_their_Wikipedias" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Select_Sub-Saharan_African_languages_and_their_Wikipedias"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1</span> <span>Select Sub-Saharan African languages and their Wikipedias</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Select_Sub-Saharan_African_languages_and_their_Wikipedias-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Sub-Saharan_African_languages" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Sub-Saharan_African_languages"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2</span> <span>Sub-Saharan African languages</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Sub-Saharan_African_languages-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Sub-Saharan_African_languages_and_education" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Sub-Saharan_African_languages_and_education"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3</span> <span>Sub-Saharan African languages and education</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Sub-Saharan_African_languages_and_education-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Internet_penetration_in_Sub-Saharan_Africa" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Internet_penetration_in_Sub-Saharan_Africa"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4</span> <span>Internet penetration in Sub-Saharan Africa</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Internet_penetration_in_Sub-Saharan_Africa-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Sub-Saharan_African_language_Wikipedias" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Sub-Saharan_African_language_Wikipedias"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5</span> <span>Sub-Saharan African language Wikipedias</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Sub-Saharan_African_language_Wikipedias-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Barriers_to_the_growth_of_Sub-Saharan_African_language_Wikipedias" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Barriers_to_the_growth_of_Sub-Saharan_African_language_Wikipedias"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">6</span> <span>Barriers to the growth of Sub-Saharan African language Wikipedias</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Barriers_to_the_growth_of_Sub-Saharan_African_language_Wikipedias-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Notes" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Notes"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">7</span> <span>Notes</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Notes-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="mw-content-container"> <main id="content" class="mw-body"> <header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-titlebar-toc vector-button-flush-left" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Toggle the table of contents" > <label id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-label" for="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-listBullet mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-listBullet"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Toggle the table of contents</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading mw-first-heading"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Sub-Saharan Africa</span></h1> </header> <div class="vector-page-toolbar"> <div class="vector-page-toolbar-container"> <div id="left-navigation"> <nav aria-label="Namespaces"> <div id="p-associated-pages" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs mw-portlet mw-portlet-associated-pages" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-nstab-main" class="selected vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Sub-Saharan_Africa" title="View the content page [c]" accesskey="c"><span>Page</span></a></li><li id="ca-talk" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Talk:Sub-Saharan_Africa" rel="discussion" class="mw-redirect" title="Discussion about the content page [t]" accesskey="t"><span>Discussion</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="vector-variants-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown emptyPortlet" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-variants-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-variants-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Change language variant" > <label id="vector-variants-dropdown-label" for="vector-variants-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">English</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="p-variants" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-variants emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> <div id="right-navigation" class="vector-collapsible"> <nav aria-label="Views"> <div id="p-views" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs mw-portlet mw-portlet-views" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-view" class="selected vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Sub-Saharan_Africa"><span>Read</span></a></li><li id="ca-viewsource" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sub-Saharan_Africa&action=edit" title="This page is protected.
You can view its source [e]" accesskey="e"><span>View source</span></a></li><li id="ca-history" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sub-Saharan_Africa&action=history" title="Past revisions of this page [h]" accesskey="h"><span>View history</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> <nav class="vector-page-tools-landmark" aria-label="Page tools"> <div id="vector-page-tools-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-tools-dropdown" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-tools-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-tools-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Tools" > <label id="vector-page-tools-dropdown-label" for="vector-page-tools-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Tools</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-tools-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> <div id="vector-page-tools" class="vector-page-tools vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-page-tools-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-unpinned" data-feature-name="page-tools-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-page-tools" data-pinned-container-id="vector-page-tools-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-page-tools-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Tools</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-page-tools.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-page-tools.unpin">hide</button> </div> <div id="p-cactions" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-cactions emptyPortlet vector-has-collapsible-items" title="More options" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Actions </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-more-view" class="selected vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Sub-Saharan_Africa"><span>Read</span></a></li><li id="ca-more-viewsource" class="vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sub-Saharan_Africa&action=edit"><span>View source</span></a></li><li id="ca-more-history" class="vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sub-Saharan_Africa&action=history"><span>View history</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-tb" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-tb" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> General </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="t-whatlinkshere" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:WhatLinksHere/Sub-Saharan_Africa" title="A list of all wiki pages that link here [j]" accesskey="j"><span>What links here</span></a></li><li id="t-recentchangeslinked" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:RecentChangesLinked/Sub-Saharan_Africa" rel="nofollow" title="Recent changes in pages linked from this page [k]" accesskey="k"><span>Related changes</span></a></li><li id="t-specialpages" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:SpecialPages" title="A list of all special pages [q]" accesskey="q"><span>Special pages</span></a></li><li id="t-permalink" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sub-Saharan_Africa&oldid=55236" title="Permanent link to this revision of this page"><span>Permanent link</span></a></li><li id="t-info" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sub-Saharan_Africa&action=info" title="More information about this page"><span>Page information</span></a></li><li id="t-cite" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CiteThisPage&page=Sub-Saharan_Africa&id=55236&wpFormIdentifier=titleform" title="Information on how to cite this page"><span>Cite this page</span></a></li><li id="t-urlshortener" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UrlShortener&url=https%3A%2F%2Fstrategy.wikimedia.org%2Fwiki%2FSub-Saharan_Africa"><span>Get shortened URL</span></a></li><li id="t-urlshortener-qrcode" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:QrCode&url=https%3A%2F%2Fstrategy.wikimedia.org%2Fwiki%2FSub-Saharan_Africa"><span>Download QR code</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-coll-print_export" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-coll-print_export" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Print/export </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="coll-create_a_book" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:Book&bookcmd=book_creator&referer=Sub-Saharan+Africa"><span>Create a book</span></a></li><li id="coll-download-as-rl" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:DownloadAsPdf&page=Sub-Saharan_Africa&action=show-download-screen"><span>Download as PDF</span></a></li><li id="t-print" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sub-Saharan_Africa&printable=yes" title="Printable version of this page [p]" accesskey="p"><span>Printable version</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-column-end"> <div class="vector-sticky-pinned-container"> <nav class="vector-page-tools-landmark" aria-label="Page tools"> <div id="vector-page-tools-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> </div> </nav> <nav class="vector-appearance-landmark" aria-label="Appearance"> <div id="vector-appearance-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> <div id="vector-appearance" class="vector-appearance vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-appearance-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-pinned" data-feature-name="appearance-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-appearance" data-pinned-container-id="vector-appearance-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-appearance-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Appearance</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-appearance.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-appearance.unpin">hide</button> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div id="bodyContent" class="vector-body" aria-labelledby="firstHeading" data-mw-ve-target-container> <div class="vector-body-before-content"> <div class="mw-indicators"> </div> <div id="siteSub" class="noprint">From Strategic Planning</div> </div> <div id="contentSub"><div id="mw-content-subtitle"></div></div> <div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div id="otherlangs" class="plainlinks" style="margin:0.5em auto; padding:2px 4px; border:1px solid #ccc; background:#fafafa; font-size:0.9em; direction:ltr;"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Geographylogo.png" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/59/Geographylogo.png/20px-Geographylogo.png" decoding="async" width="20" height="20" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/59/Geographylogo.png/30px-Geographylogo.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/Geographylogo.png 2x" data-file-width="40" data-file-height="40" /></a></span> <b>In other languages:</b> <span class="plainlinks firstlang" style="white-space:nowrap"><b><span class="firstlang" lang="en" dir="ltr">English</span> <small>(en)</small></b></span> | <i><a href="/wiki/Template:Translation/Sub-Saharan_Africa" title="Template:Translation/Sub-Saharan Africa">Add translation</a></i> [<a class="external text" href="https://strategy.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Languages/Sub-Saharan_Africa&action=edit">edit</a>] </div> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Select_Sub-Saharan_African_languages_and_their_Wikipedias">Select Sub-Saharan African languages and their Wikipedias</h2></div> <p><b>Major Sub-Saharan African languages and their Wikipedias</b> </p> <table class="wikitable"> <tbody><tr> <td align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"><b>Wiki code</b> </td> <td align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"><b>Language</b> </td> <td align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"><b>Primary Country</b> </td> <td align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"><b>Number of speakers (Millions)</b> </td> <td align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"><b>Potential Users (Thousands)</b> </td> <td align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"><b>Number of articles (7-09)</b> </td> <td align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"><b># of articles >1500 bytes (7-09)</b> </td> <td align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"><b>Articles, 1 year growth rate (5/08-5/09)</b> </td> <td align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"><b># of 5+editors (5-09)</b> </td> <td align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"><b>5+ editors, 1 year growth rate (5/08-5/09)</b> </td> <td align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"><b>5+ editors,2 year growth rate (5/07-5/09)</b> </td> <td align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"><b>Article to editor ratio</b> </td></tr> <tr> <td>ha</td> <td>Hausa</td> <td>Nigeria</td> <td>*40</td> <td>1,600</td> <td>131</td> <td>35</td> <td>12%</td> <td>10</td> <td>100%</td> <td>400%</td> <td>13 </td></tr> <tr> <td>sw</td> <td>Swahili</td> <td>Tanzania</td> <td>31</td> <td>1,240</td> <td>12,555</td> <td>1,256</td> <td>58%</td> <td>38</td> <td>46%</td> <td>138%</td> <td>330 </td></tr> <tr> <td>zu</td> <td>Zulu</td> <td>South Africa</td> <td>*25</td> <td>1,012</td> <td>186</td> <td>4</td> <td>6%</td> <td>7</td> <td>-13%</td> <td>0%</td> <td>27 </td></tr> <tr> <td>am</td> <td>Amharic</td> <td>Ethiopia</td> <td>*22</td> <td>860</td> <td>3,342</td> <td>100</td> <td>7%</td> <td>23</td> <td>28%</td> <td>130%</td> <td>145 </td></tr> <tr> <td>yo</td> <td>Yoruba</td> <td>Nigeria</td> <td>*21</td> <td>856</td> <td>6,264</td> <td>2,067</td> <td>5%</td> <td>21</td> <td>31%</td> <td>200%</td> <td>298 </td></tr> <tr> <td>ig</td> <td>Igbo</td> <td>Nigeria</td> <td>18</td> <td>720</td> <td>570</td> <td>23</td> <td>4%</td> <td>15</td> <td>114%</td> <td>275%</td> <td>38 </td></tr> <tr> <td>mg</td> <td>Malagasy</td> <td>Madagascar</td> <td>15</td> <td>588</td> <td>1,518</td> <td>106</td> <td>147%</td> <td>21</td> <td>75%</td> <td>320%</td> <td>72 </td></tr> <tr> <td>so</td> <td>Somali</td> <td>Somalia</td> <td>14</td> <td>556</td> <td>585</td> <td>76</td> <td>31%</td> <td>17</td> <td>42%</td> <td>89%</td> <td>34 </td></tr> <tr> <td>sn</td> <td>Shona</td> <td>Zimbabwe</td> <td>*13</td> <td>504</td> <td>40</td> <td>6</td> <td>3%</td> <td>0</td> <td>-100%</td> <td>N/A</td> <td>N/A </td></tr> <tr> <td>ff</td> <td>Fulah</td> <td>Senegal</td> <td>12</td> <td>492</td> <td>47</td> <td>2</td> <td>357%</td> <td>7</td> <td>17%</td> <td>600%</td> <td>7 </td></tr> <tr> <td>kg</td> <td>Kongo</td> <td>Democratic Republic of the Congo</td> <td>11</td> <td>440</td> <td>569</td> <td>11</td> <td>31%</td> <td>13</td> <td>63%</td> <td>117%</td> <td>44 </td></tr> <tr> <td>ln</td> <td>Lingala</td> <td>Congo</td> <td>9</td> <td>360</td> <td>1,147</td> <td>57</td> <td>10%</td> <td>19</td> <td>58%</td> <td>111%</td> <td>60 </td></tr> <tr> <td>Smaller Sub-Saharan African Languages with Wikipedias of more than 500 Articles</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td> </td></tr> <tr> <td>af</td> <td>Afrikaans</td> <td>South Africa</td> <td>6.1</td> <td>196</td> <td>12,866</td> <td>4,374</td> <td>24%</td> <td>63</td> <td>47%</td> <td>31%</td> <td>204 </td></tr> <tr> <td>wo</td> <td>Wolof</td> <td>Senegal</td> <td>4</td> <td>160</td> <td>967</td> <td>116</td> <td>45%</td> <td>18</td> <td>50%</td> <td>800%</td> <td>54 </td></tr> <tr> <td> </td></tr></tbody></table> <pre>*Includes second language speakers </pre> <p><sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Sub-Saharan_African_languages">Sub-Saharan African languages</h2></div> <ul><li>There are over 230 million speakers of the 12 major Sub-Saharan African languages listed, comprising 28% of the population.</li> <li>All of the 15 languages listed are official languages of one or more Sub-Saharan African country or state. There are newspapers printed in all of the languages except for Shona</li> <li>Most of these languages have existed as written languages for a very short period of time and are not the primary languages of communication amongst the well educated. Therefore, these languages have a very limited literature.</li> <li>There are many other languages spoken in Sub-Saharan Africa, these 12 were chosen due to their large number of speakers, status as official languages and existence of Wikipedias in these languages</li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Sub-Saharan_African_languages_and_education">Sub-Saharan African languages and education</h2></div> <ul><li>All of the languages listed are used as mediums of instruction at the elementary school levels in different states and countries in sub-Saharan Africa</li> <li>Some of these languages are also taught at the secondary level in some localities.</li> <li>The former colonial languages are the primary languages for higher education in Sub-Saharan Africa.</li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Internet_penetration_in_Sub-Saharan_Africa">Internet penetration in Sub-Saharan Africa</h2></div> <ul><li>Despite the large number of speakers of several of these languages, most people lack access to computers and the Internet, with Internet use rates of 4% of the population for the region as a whole. Additionally, most people in Sub-Saharan Africa with Internet access use colonial languages as their primary language for written communication.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li> <li class="mw-empty-elt"></li> <li>Mobile phone penetration is significantly more widespread than Internet penetration. Additionally, some countries have built up 3G networks enabling people to access the Internet via their phone <sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Sub-Saharan_African_language_Wikipedias">Sub-Saharan African language Wikipedias</h2></div> <ul><li>Growth of sub-Saharan African language Wikipedias has generally been very slow. To date only three Wikipedias, Swahili, Yoruba, and Afrikaans, have more than 5000 articles.</li> <li>Many Sub-Saharan African language Wikipedias have shown almost no growth. There are 13 Wikipedias of sub-Saharan African languages with more than 3 million speakers that have less than 500 articles</li> <li>Most African language Wikipedias lack tools and support structures such as templates, info boxes and village pumps that support editing<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li></ul> <p><br /> <b>Amongst Sub-Saharan African language Wikipedias, only Swahili and Afrikaans have shown steady growth</b> </p><p><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Slow_growth_Sub-Saharan_African_language_Wikipedias.png" class="mw-file-description" title="A few Sub-Saharan African language Wikipedias have shown steady growth"><img alt="A few Sub-Saharan African language Wikipedias have shown steady growth" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/39/Slow_growth_Sub-Saharan_African_language_Wikipedias.png/600px-Slow_growth_Sub-Saharan_African_language_Wikipedias.png" decoding="async" width="600" height="370" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/39/Slow_growth_Sub-Saharan_African_language_Wikipedias.png/900px-Slow_growth_Sub-Saharan_African_language_Wikipedias.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Slow_growth_Sub-Saharan_African_language_Wikipedias.png 2x" data-file-width="983" data-file-height="606" /></a></span> </p><p><br /> <b>Most Sub-Saharan African language Wikipedias have shown minimal growth</b> </p><p><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Minimal_growth_Sub-Saharan_African_language_Wikipedias.png" class="mw-file-description" title="Most Sub-Saharan African language Wikipedias have shown minimal growth"><img alt="Most Sub-Saharan African language Wikipedias have shown minimal growth" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/Minimal_growth_Sub-Saharan_African_language_Wikipedias.png/600px-Minimal_growth_Sub-Saharan_African_language_Wikipedias.png" decoding="async" width="600" height="370" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/Minimal_growth_Sub-Saharan_African_language_Wikipedias.png/900px-Minimal_growth_Sub-Saharan_African_language_Wikipedias.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Minimal_growth_Sub-Saharan_African_language_Wikipedias.png 2x" data-file-width="983" data-file-height="606" /></a></span> </p><p><b>Few Sub-Saharan language Wikipedias have many articles greater then 1.5Kb</b> </p><p><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Sub-Saharan_Africa_useful_articles.png" class="mw-file-description" title="Few Sub-Saharan language Wikipedias have many articles greater then 1.5Kb"><img alt="Few Sub-Saharan language Wikipedias have many articles greater then 1.5Kb" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3e/Sub-Saharan_Africa_useful_articles.png/600px-Sub-Saharan_Africa_useful_articles.png" decoding="async" width="600" height="370" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3e/Sub-Saharan_Africa_useful_articles.png/900px-Sub-Saharan_Africa_useful_articles.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/Sub-Saharan_Africa_useful_articles.png 2x" data-file-width="983" data-file-height="606" /></a></span> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Barriers_to_the_growth_of_Sub-Saharan_African_language_Wikipedias">Barriers to the growth of Sub-Saharan African language Wikipedias</h2></div> <ul><li>Lack of source materials in African languages</li> <li>Lack of Internet access amongst people who use African native languages as their primary written language</li> <li>Lack of Wikipedia tools to facilitate editing in African languages and a lack of editors who have the technical skills to address problems and fix bugs</li> <li>Lack of time to devote to Wikipedia projects amongst people in Africa who have Internet access</li> <li>Prestige of former colonial languages (mostly English, French, Portuguese, including for religious purposes in Christian communities), or Arabic (for religious purposes in countries where Islam dominates or takes a significant share), and illiteracy in the vernacular</li> <li>Until September 2009, poor connections between Africa and the Internet. <sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Notes">Notes</h2></div> <ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-1">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Information on languages from Ethnologue 2009 <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.ethnologue.com">http://www.ethnologue.com</a> Potential users is calculated by multiplying the number of language speakers by the national or regional Internet use rate. Internet use rates from from the International Telecom Union 2008 </span> </li> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-2">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Information on Internet use from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/icteye/Reporting/ShowReportFrame.aspx?ReportName=/WTI/InformationTechnologyPublic&RP_intYear=2008&RP_intLanguageID=1%7C">International Telecommunications Union 2008</a> /</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-3">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/06/science/06uganda.html?_r=2&hpw">http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/06/science/06uganda.html?_r=2&hpw</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-4">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">see comment on sub-Saharan Africa regional analysis talk page <a href="/wiki/Talk:Reach/Regional_Analysis/Sub-Saharan_Africa" class="mw-redirect" title="Talk:Reach/Regional Analysis/Sub-Saharan Africa">Talk:Reach/Regional_Analysis/Sub-Saharan_Africa</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-5">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specialreports/2009/09/000000_connected_africa.shtml">BBC</a> retrieved 2nd Oct 2009 </span> </li> </ol> <p><br /> </p>    </div><noscript><img src="https://login.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAutoLogin/start?type=1x1" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border: none; position: absolute;"></noscript> <div class="printfooter" data-nosnippet="">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://strategy.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sub-Saharan_Africa&oldid=55236">https://strategy.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sub-Saharan_Africa&oldid=55236</a>"</div></div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="/wiki/Special:Categories" title="Special:Categories">Categories</a>: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Reach" title="Category:Reach">Reach</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Africa" title="Category:Africa">Africa</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Sub-Saharan_Africa" title="Category:Sub-Saharan Africa">Sub-Saharan Africa</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Wikimedia-pedia" title="Category:Wikimedia-pedia">Wikimedia-pedia</a></li></ul></div><div id="mw-hidden-catlinks" class="mw-hidden-catlinks mw-hidden-cats-hidden">Hidden category: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Autotranslated_articles" title="Category:Autotranslated articles">Autotranslated articles</a></li></ul></div></div> </div> </main> </div> <div class="mw-footer-container"> <footer id="footer" class="mw-footer" > <ul id="footer-info"> <li id="footer-info-lastmod"> This page was last edited on 22 January 2010, at 06:40.</li> <li id="footer-info-copyright">Text is available under the <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en">Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License</a>; additional terms may apply. See <a class="external text" href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Terms_of_Use">Terms of Use</a> for details.</li> </ul> <ul id="footer-places"> <li id="footer-places-privacy"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Privacy_policy">Privacy policy</a></li> <li id="footer-places-about"><a href="/wiki/Process">About Strategic Planning</a></li> <li id="footer-places-disclaimers"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia:General_disclaimer">Disclaimers</a></li> <li id="footer-places-wm-codeofconduct"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Universal_Code_of_Conduct">Code of Conduct</a></li> <li id="footer-places-developers"><a href="https://developer.wikimedia.org">Developers</a></li> <li id="footer-places-statslink"><a href="https://stats.wikimedia.org/#/strategy.wikimedia.org">Statistics</a></li> <li id="footer-places-cookiestatement"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Cookie_statement">Cookie statement</a></li> <li id="footer-places-mobileview"><a href="//strategy.m.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sub-Saharan_Africa&mobileaction=toggle_view_mobile" class="noprint stopMobileRedirectToggle">Mobile view</a></li> </ul> <ul id="footer-icons" class="noprint"> <li id="footer-copyrightico"><a href="https://wikimediafoundation.org/" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button--enabled"><img src="/static/images/footer/wikimedia-button.svg" width="84" height="29" alt="Wikimedia Foundation" loading="lazy"></a></li> <li id="footer-poweredbyico"><a href="https://www.mediawiki.org/" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button--enabled"><img src="/w/resources/assets/poweredby_mediawiki.svg" alt="Powered by MediaWiki" width="88" height="31" loading="lazy"></a></li> </ul> </footer> </div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-settings" id="p-dock-bottom"> <ul></ul> </div><script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.config.set({"wgHostname":"mw-web.codfw.main-6b8d669998-bpvhz","wgBackendResponseTime":122,"wgPageParseReport":{"limitreport":{"cputime":"0.056","walltime":"0.171","ppvisitednodes":{"value":325,"limit":1000000},"postexpandincludesize":{"value":16380,"limit":2097152},"templateargumentsize":{"value":275,"limit":2097152},"expansiondepth":{"value":11,"limit":100},"expensivefunctioncount":{"value":1,"limit":500},"unstrip-depth":{"value":0,"limit":20},"unstrip-size":{"value":2500,"limit":5000000},"timingprofile":["100.00% 36.753 1 Template:Autotranslate","100.00% 36.753 1 -total"," 77.47% 28.472 1 Sub-Saharan_Africa/en"," 40.53% 14.897 1 Template:Languages/Sub-Saharan_Africa"," 24.72% 9.087 1 Template:Languages"," 11.97% 4.398 1 Template:Fallback"," 7.17% 2.634 1 Template:Other_languages/link"," 4.37% 1.606 1 Template:Table"]},"cachereport":{"origin":"mw-web.codfw.main-694cf4987f-hmt6k","timestamp":"20241126012722","ttl":2592000,"transientcontent":false}}});});</script> </body> </html>