DAR ES SALAAM, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) — According to a statement released by the Ministry of Finance and Planning on Sunday, Tanzania has requested the World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to introduce Kiswahili as a working language.
The statement revealed that the request was made by Saada Mkuya, minister of State in Zanzibar President’s Office responsible for finance and planning, during her address at the 2023 annual meetings of the WBG and the IMF in Marrakech, Morocco.
Mkuya, who headed Tanzania’s delegation to the meetings, pointed out that 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 highlighted that Kiswahili is one of the top 10 most widely spoken languages globally, with over 200 million speakers.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) 41st session of the General Conference declared July 7 as World Kiswahili Language Day, acknowledging it as the first African language to receive such recognition by the UN.
