Communicating Across Cultures With People From Africa

Africa is the cradle of humankind, the continent where the first cultures emerged. It is a large continent with 54 countries as members of the African Union. There are far more cultures than countries. Intercultural communication is thus an everyday reality not only for citizens of other continents coming to Africa or interacting with Africans but also for African people interacting with fellow African people from a different country or even from a different culture within the same country.

Noting that the Republic of South Africa has 11 official languages spoken in Parliament, Cameroon has 230 languages and 250 cultures, and Burkina Faso has 11 large cultural groups, some of which are nomadic and others settled, a sense of the cultural and religious richness and complexity ...