New blow to ex-colonizer: Mali demotes French albeit symbolically
4 Min Read
Mali's approval of a new constitution in June -- that made the French language a working language instead of an official one -- reflects the country's decolonial objectives.
-
A French soldier on patrol in Gao, Mali, in January 2022 (AFP)
Chérif Keta, a professor at Carleton College in Minnesota, noticed a decline in the number of French-speaking radio hosts every time he flies to Mali and gets into a taxi.
Keta claimed that some commentators combine French with local languages, while some people avoid it entirely.
"People are making a point to speak African languages," he said.
What travels through Mali's radio waves could show a wider departure from the language of its former colonizer in the West African nation. Voters in Mali approved a new constitution in June that made the French language a working language instead of an official one.
Read next: Mali adopts new junta-proposed constitution, a month after referendum
In a nation where there are more than 70 local languages, the transition creates challenging issues. Notably, the French language is still used in the constitution that degraded French.
As the Malian state gets ready to hold elections for the first time since a coup overthrew former President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita in 2020, experts say the downgrade, although symbolic, reflects the regime's decolonial objectives.
As anti-French sentiments grow in the region, French troops, stationed in Mali under the pretext of war against terrorism, were withdrawn from the country, France's ambassador was expelled, and French-funded NGOs were banned, with Mali getting closer to Russia, just like other countries in the Sahel, having vowed to help these countries economically.
When the draft constitution was presented last year, commission head Fousseyni Samaké was asked about the shift from French. He responded that his group aimed to take "a dynamic approach to the problem of national and official languages," according to Radio France Internationale.
According to Gregory Mann, a history professor at Columbia University who studies Mali and the Sahel, the shift might still be taken seriously in France.
"France is very sensitive to these questions of prestige and soft power on the continent," he said.
What about Emmanuel Macron and Malian government?
Since being reelected in 2022, French President Emmanuel Macron has traveled to former colonies numerous times, showing a relationship as one between equals and attempting to counteract Chinese and Russian influence in once-Francophone Africa.
An inquiry for comments regarding the removal of French as the official language in Mali was not answered by the French Foreign Ministry. No one could be reached to contact the Malian junta for comment.
Though fewer than 40 percent of people who were eligible to vote participated, close to 97 percent of voters accepted the new constitution in June, according to election officials.
With the removal of French as an official language, the provision grants the government broad leeway to employ other tongues, including the 13 national languages that are now recognized as official. The language of the tribe most commonly spoken is Bambara, including in and around Bamako, the nation's capital.
Keta, a professor at Carleton College, expressed optimism, saying he thought the shift might result in more money being spent on supporting the teaching of regional languages. According to Keta, the elite of Mali continue to speak French, and some of them have worked or studied there in the past. A former term for African colonial subjects who adopted French culture was évolués, or evolved ones.
"It’s only in Africa where if somebody does not speak a European language, that person is looked down upon," he said.
The political fortunes of the Malian state during a period of unrest in the Sahel will determine if a change from the French language will take hold. According to the junta, elections will be held the next year, and Col. Assimi Gota, the military commander, may run.
However, Mark LeVine, a historian at the University of California, Irvine, believes that whoever assumes power is not likely to be supportive of France.
"There could be another government that might scrap this constitution, but I don’t see France suddenly becoming everyone’s friend in Mali," he said.
