Wednesday October 8, 2025
Mogadishu (HOL) — Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has
announced plans to accelerate the introduction of Swahili into the national
curriculum for schools and universities as part of Somalia’s efforts to deepen
integration within the East African Community (EAC).
Swahili, East Africa’s lingua franca and one of the
continent’s most widely spoken languages, will be promoted as both a working
and instructional language alongside Somali, Arabic, and English, aligning with
Somalia’s new membership in the regional bloc.
Speaking at the 2nd East African Community Cooperation
Conference (EACON2025) in Mogadishu on Tuesday, President Mohamud urged Somali
universities to take the lead in teaching and using Swahili to strengthen
regional unity and cooperation.
“The Somali National University, along with all Somali
universities, must take the lead in promoting Swahili — the common language of
the East African region,” President Mohamud said.
Minister of Education Farah Sheikh Abdulkadir said the
government is working with regional institutions to develop a framework for
introducing Swahili nationwide.
“We are working to enhance the study and use of the Swahili
language in Somalia. We want to see Swahili become a language of communication,
trade, and learning — even replacing English during our next conference,” he
added.
The recently established National Higher Education Board is
coordinating efforts with the East African Universities Association and the
East African Qualifications Framework to implement the plan.
Spoken by more than 200 million people across East and
Central Africa, Swahili is already an official language of both the African
Union and the East African Community.
Somalia officially joined the EAC in 2024, becoming the
bloc’s eighth partner state alongside Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi,
South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).