Macron laments dearth of French in North Africa

Published November 20th, 2022 - 09:11 GMT
Macron
France's President Emmanuel Macron looks on during a bilateral meeting at the 18th Francophone countries Summit in Djerba, on November 19, 2022. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP)

ALBAWABA - Emmanuel Macron is deeply worried about the decline of the French language in the north African countries.

His comments, which he made at an Francophonie conference, is trending at great speed with images, photos and comments at an international conference of French speakers.

He says he wants the French language to become a greater force again in north Africa, lamenting its decline over the past 20 to 30 years. "English is a new common language that people have accepted," he said. But, he added, "(French) is the universal language of the African continent," AFP quoted him as saying.

He was speaking at a francophone summit on the Tunisian island of Djerba where about 30 heads of state and government attended including Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Senegalese President Macky Sall among many others. 

He added France faces a great challenge to restore the French language to its rightful place. At present there are 321 million people who speak French in the world and the number is said to rise to 750 million on 2050.