Well the verdict is out, or rather it has been out for the longest while, we just didn’t follow.

The self styled ‘World Linguistic Society’ dropped a ranking of the best English speakers in Africa.

Not that it matters in the grand scheme of things, seeing that more and more African governments are now encouraging their people to speak and teach their native languages more in schools.

According to the report by World Linguistic Society, Uganda has the best English speakers in Africa.

It is then followed by Zambia, South Africa and Kenya respectively.

According to the study carried out, the majority of Ugandans can articulate English words fluently, than any other English speaking country in Africa.

Without much ado, here’s the whole list from top to bottom

1. Uganda

2. Zambia

3. South Africa

4. Kenya

5. Zimbabwe

6. Malawi

7. Ghana

8. Botswana

9. Sudan

It is  worth noting that the World Linguistic Society, does not exist as a juristic person in any capacity.

And, the  EF English Proficiency Index (EF EPI)  has their own list.

They attempt to rank countries by the average level of English language skills amongst adults who took their EF test.

It’s basically the product of EF Education First, an international education company and their conclusions are drawn from data collected via English tests available for free.

If is not reflective of the whole African continent as a whole.

1. South Africa (65.38)

3. Nigeria (58.26)

4. Ethiopia (49.64)

5. Tunisia (49.04)

6. Morocco (47.19)

7. Egypt (47.11)

8. Cameroon (46.28)

9. Sudan (45.94)

10. Algeria (45.281

However, almost all of the countries in the lists were, former British colonies at one point or another.

Some were colonized by the British until independence, while some were colonized by the British until they were passed on to a new colonial master.

This makes English their default official language, because of the school curriculums which were designed during the colonial system.

Speaking English or lack of it has been a subject of dispute in many African countries

During the colonial times, knowing how to speak English was a sign of being educated or of belonging to a better class in society.

However in modern times, it has become more of a ‘going through the motions’ in order to navigate the education system and the corporate world  at large.

It’s also a matter of regional linguistics, naturally one would need a generally used language in the world, should they step out of their regions.

It’s also worth noting that, the UN recognizes only 6 languages as official, which are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

Also, more conservative societies in Africa see the English language as something imposed on them by their colonizers, not something they consciously chose for themselves or helped build.