Region Change Through Word Exchange: The Need for Translation in Africa

December 18, 2012 |

African languagesAfrica is home to roughly 10% of the world’s population and, according to a recent United Nations report, contains 10 of the world’s fastest-growing economies.

This large, fast developing region, however, is still highly fragmented:

• There are 2,000 spoken languages within Africa. (Nigeria alone has more than 500.)
• The media use at least 242 African languages.
• The judicial system uses a minimum of 63 African languages.
• Public administration uses 56 African languages.
• Tens of millions of people speak Amharic, Berber, Hausa, Igbo, Oromo, Swahili, and Yoruba.

In addition to the number of languages, one of the biggest challenges in African translation is the lack of “linguistic equivalence,” or the ability to directly translate African languages into one or several other languages. For instance, in many African languages, there is no single word for “cancer” or “clinical depression,” or technology terms like “cloud computing” and “social media.” These terms often require extensive explanation. As Africa’s economy grows, not only do African translators need to know more languages and communicate with more countries, they must also have deeper subject knowledge in an array of topics.

Africa is one of the world regions targeted for ongoing economic growth. More companies are looking to the continent as an important market for consumer products, medicine and large-scale infrastructure services. But despite the great need, African translation only commands less than 1% of the total translation market.

Why the gap between translation demand and supply? Common Sense Advisory, Inc., in a recent report entitled “The Need for Translation in Africa,” surveyed 364 African translators on behalf of the organization Translators Without Borders. They found that translators in Africa tend to be well educated. Of those surveyed:

• 83% have a college degree. 52.8% have an advanced degree.
• 32.6% hold university degrees in translation. 28.7% have taken courses in translation. 36.6% have some other formal training for translation.
• Over 90% said translation helps African people with major life challenges.
• 60% had donated their services to give back to their communities.
• 63% believed that having greater access to translated information would have prevented the loss of a loved one.

The last fact captures the real importance of the translation profession to the future progress and well-being of the African continent. Well-executed translation help Africans understand their legal rights, improve their access and use of healthcare, respond more quickly in times of emergency or natural disasters and prevent international, civil, ethnic and communal conflict.

The study concludes with advice for the growing number of companies and non-profits involved in the region:

• Buyers should screen for quality, rather than award projects to the lowest bidder.
• Technology vendors should look for pricing models that will help put translation tools into the hands of more African professionals.
• Larger language service providers should take a longer view in attracting and retaining top talent to help grow the pool of trained African translators.
• Government, NGOs and Charitable groups should all view translation as a critical component of the work they do and allocate budget accordingly.

Do you have any questions or concerns regarding translation projects in Africa? Please leave a comment below.

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Category: Business Translation

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