Own work

Sources

Gabon, Libreville, Port-Gentil, Franceville: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/376319724_Gabon “Most of its population lives in three main cities: the capital Libreville on the north bank of the Gabon Estuary, Port-Gentil on the Atlantic coast, and Franceville in the south-eastern part of the country. In these cities, the usage of French is most widespread, although almost all Gabonese people speak French, some-times as their first language.” “The use of French reaches 89 % in offices (vs. 69,2 % according to Moussirou-Mouyama), 95,4 % with superiors or teachers (vs. 59,2 %), and 42,2 % at home (vs. 1,5 %).At the same time, local languages drop to 0 % in offices, with superiors, and teachers.Even at home, the percentage decreases from 89,3 % to 31,2 %” “On top of that:‘several studies have made clear that in many Gabonese families, French has been transmitted as mother tongue sometimes for three generations. It has become, in fact, the first language for some hundred thousand Gabonese, especially in large cities. It was introduced at least four centuries ago,has been transmitted as a mother tongue for at least 60 years’.2”(Ursula Reutner)

Gabon, Libreville: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267327159_From_foreign_to_national_a_review_of_the_status_of_French_in_Gabon “Furthermore, some are also learning and conceptualising French as a mother tongue or initial language, rather than a second language” “Children from a family of this kind have no choice but to acquire French as their first language. The children learn the language at home from the parents before they even get to school,” “This urbanisation is also to be considered as a cause for French being the initial language of Gabonese younger generations.” “The third reason why French is increasingly becoming the mother tongue of younger generations, is that native languages have lost their value.”(Hugues Steve Ndinga-Koumba-Binza)

DRC: Overall: https://www.worlddata.info/africa/congo-kinshasa/index.php French – 12% Native Speakers. DRC Kinshasa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=ItfUK_Z7f0M&pp=ygUaRnJlbmNoIGxhbmd1YWJlIGluIHJoZSBkcmM%3D Video https://www.independent.co.ug/special-feature-dr-congo-home-tenth-worlds-languages/ “While some people like her speak several local languages, the upwardly mobile will often teach their children only French — or French and English.” (The Independent) https://www.air.org/sites/default/files/2024-05/KIX-Strengthening-Bilingual-Multilingual-Education-Systems-Final%20Report-May-2024.pdf “For 28 per cent of the children in our sample, French is the first and only language” (GPE, DALBERG, AIR) DRC Lubumbashi: https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/40382/1/Final_SWPL21_Carson.pdf “This proportion has hardly changed over time, and only recently some children from the urban elite have become Francophone first language speakers.” (Ben Carson) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326888188_French_and_the_school_are_one_-_the_role_of_French_in_postcolonial_Congolese_education_memories_of_pupils “Respondent 15 said people would have difficulties if LS was the LOI; Respondent 4’s parents spoke French to them at home to prepare them for school.” “Mushingi (1989: 156) references research done in the 1970s showing that when the parents are taught in French they are more likely to prefer it, and teach it to their children first,” (Karen Hulstaert) DRC Haut-Katanga, Kinshasa, Kongo Central, Lomami: https://www.air.org/sites/default/files/2024-05/KIX-Strengthening-Bilingual-Education-DRC-Brief-May-2024.pdf “Reports 28% of students interviewed were monolingual French speakers.” (GPE, DALBER, AIR)

Cameroon, Douala, Yaoundé: https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/ab9d0f98-1724-4994-9c01-72582a009845/content “6% Native Speakers of French in ages 35+”. (Kelen Ernesta Fonyuy) https://oaji.net/articles/2019/1330-1559618778.pdf “The French language thus plays the role of an official language, of a second language, of a foreign language and of a mother-tongue for a very minute number of Cameroonian children.” (Charles Esambe Alobwede) http://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/34485/1/8.pdf “Francophone adults used French in 42 percent of the domestic communications which were studied, whereas the young (10–17 years old) used French in 70 percent of the communication. In addition 32 percent of the young between ten and seventeen years old interviewed in Yaounde did not know any national language and had French as their L1 (Bitjaa Kody 2001a). There is a clear change in language use from the parent generation to the generation of their children (Bitjaa Kody 2005:95).”(Tove Rosendal)
Madagascar, Antananarivo: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/225930576.pdf Pg. 52 “After independence in 1960 the ruling elite of the capital and other urban centres has continuously used French as the language of administration and some, albeit a minority, have even adopted French as their everyday family language.”(Øyvind Dahl)

Ivory Coast, Abidjan: http://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/45915/1/16.Andrew%20Simpson.pdf Pg. 164 “French is becoming all the more frequently a first language of speakers as ethno-cultural ties between townspeople and their place of origin get weaker.” (Andrew Simpson) Ivory Coast, Vallée du Bandama District: https://www.scirp.org/journal/paperinformation?paperid=115370 “More and more Ivorians are inheriting the French language as their mother tongue.” (Dongui Zana Y. Ouattara)
Congo Brazzaville, Brazzaville: https://www.scribd.com/document/707596878/The-Republic-of-Congo-francophone-country “Speakers who have French as their first language acquired at birth, who can only express themselves in this language. This is the case for several children of senior executives, and even middle managers in large cities. Today, there are young people from 1 to 30 years old who are exclusively Francophones.” (Omer Massoumou)
Benin, Cotonou: https://globalvoices.org/2025/02/28/emphasis-on-french-and-english-accelerates-decline-of-local-language-in-benin/ “Instead, Codjia chose to raise her three girls speaking French at home and sent them to a French–English bilingual school where they live in Cotonou, Benin. “We speak French at home because it is easier and faster. French offers more opportunities to communicate with everyone in Benin,