Having accomplished significant success in the implementation of its programmes in the past year, the Executive Secretary of the African Academy of Languages (ACALAN), Dr. Lang Fafa Dampha has revealed that the Academy will focus primarily on development of language policies for the AU member states in 2019.

That brings us to the question, what exactly are these language policies? Language Policies have to do with decisions (rules, regulations, guidelines) about the status, use, domains, and territories of language(s) and the rights of speakers of the languages in question.

Language policy is what the government does officially through legislation, court decisions, executive action, or other means to determine how languages are used in public contexts and also establish the rights of individuals or groups to learn, use and maintain languages.

As the main language organ of the African Union, ACALAN is renewing its effort to ensure AU member states put in place language policies that will guide the development of our national languages. This is because the academy recognizes the importance of language policies in the preservation of languages. And as it has been said several times that no sustainable development can take place without the development of our languages. That invariably translates to one thing – we cannot have meaningful and sustainable development without putting in place proper language policies.

A language policy that promotes the use of the national languages for instance helps to empower such languages. Materials produced using the national languages will have to be mass-produced thereby enabling job creation and boosting the economy in the process.

Therefore having a working language policy is not only a necessity; it is a must if sustainable development of the nations of Africa is to be achieved.