Tanzania President Samia Suluhu Hassan. Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Tanzania has requested the World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to introduce Kiswahili as a working language, the Ministry of Finance and Planning said in a statement released on Sunday.
The statement said the request was made by Saada Mkuya, minister of State in Zanzibar President’s Office responsible for finance and planning, when she addressed the 2023 annual meetings of the WBG and the IMF in Marrakech in Morocco.
Mkuya, who led Tanzania’s delegation to the meetings, said Kiswahili is already used as a working language in various regional organizations, including the East African Community, the Southern African Development Community, and the African Union.
She said Kiswahili is among the 10 most widely spoken languages in the world, with more than 200 million speakers.
The 41st session of the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization proclaimed July 7 of each year as World Kiswahili Language Day, making it the first African language to be recognized in such a manner by the UN.
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