Paris is no longer the first French-speaking city of the world, place to Kinshasa
With its 12.1 million inhabitants on 1st of July 2016 (UN), Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), becomes the largest French-speaking city in the world, ahead of Paris with approximately 10.9 million inhabitants the same year. It should also be noted that the DRC is the first French-speaking country in the world (in terms of population), with more than 78 million inhabitants.
The number of French speakers could be more than 11.1 million. According to an OIF report (“The French Language in the World, 2010”), 92% of the population of Kinshasa spoke French.
It is also in Africa that is the third largest French-speaking city in the world, Abidjan, and its 5.0 million city dwellers. The Ivorian capital thus precedes the cities of Montreal (4.0 million) and Dakar (3.7 million). Next comes Casablanca (3.5 million).
How are those economies performing?
There is an economic emergence of francophone Africa, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, which is the most dynamic area on the continent. This group of 22 countries recorded overall growth of 3.7% in 2016, while the rest of sub-Saharan Africa saw a 0.8% increase in its GDP. The DRC, on the other hand, has achieved annual growth of 8.1% on average over the period 2012-2015.
What can we anticipate for the years to come?
According to the UN, the new demographic capital of the French-speaking world, Kinshasa, is expected to cross the 20 million mark in 2030, making it one of the largest megacities in the world.
Source: Agence Ecofin
