According to UNESCO, more than 2,000 languages are recognized across the continent, but the following languages are the most spoken in Africa:
| Language | Territory | Number of speakers |
|---|---|---|
| Swahili | Tanzania Uganda The Democratic Republic of Congo Kenya Ethiopia Sudan Burundi Rwanda | 100-150 million |
| Arabic | Egypt Algeria Chad Comoros Djibouti Libya Morocco Somalia Mauritania Tunisia | 100- 120 million |
| French | Gabon Mauritius Côte d’Ivoire Senegal Sao Tome and Principe Algeria Tunisia Morocco | 100-120 million |
| Hausa | Benin Burkina Faso Cameroon Chad Congo Eritrea Ghana | 50 million |
| Yoruba | Nigeria Bening Togo | 40 million |
| Oromo | Ethiopia Kenya Somalia Egypt | 30 million |
| Igbo | Nigeria Cameroon Equatorial Guinea Benin | 30 million |
| Portuguese | Angola Mozambique Guinea-Bissau Cape Verde Sao Tome and Principe Equatorial Guinea | 14 million |
| Zulu | South Africa Lesotho Eswatini | 10 million |
| Shona | Zimbabwe Mozambique | 10 million |
