Western media’s focus on colonial languages

Your report (Senegal’s troubled Casamance region hopes for peace with rise of local boy to PM, 28 August) referred to the Gambia as “the roughly rectangular, English-speaking country that bisects Senegal”. Why do western media continue to categorise African countries based on colonial languages, as if African languages don’t exist?
This overlooks the fact that Wolof is widely spoken in both Senegal and the Gambia. By choosing to emphasise a European language over Wolof, the article seems to disregard African languages. While it is true that many African countries have not fully decolonised and continue to use colonial languages imposed on them as their “official languages”, it is crucial to question why this remains the norm.
The current approach undermines the richness of African languages and perpetuates the divisive colonial lens through which the continent is often viewed. Western media should commit to discontinuing the use of colonial language categorisations and give due recognition to African languages.Karim BahMunich, Germany