The UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in collaboration with Spanish Speaking countries representatives celebrated Spanish Language Day in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Wednesday.
ECA co-hosted the event with Spanish speaking countries representatives – Argentina, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Chile, Cuba, Mexico, Spain, Uruguay, and Venezuela. The event highlighted the positive role of the Spanish language in promoting cultural exchange and people-to-people connections.
At the ceremony held for the 5th times in Addis Ababa within ECA compound, the Acting Secretary General of ECA Antonio Pedro highlighted the importance of multilingualism to preserve linguistic and cultural traditions while also fostering harmony and peace.
He also mentioned the opportunities to collaborate and exchange good practices between Spanish countries of Latin America and Africa in terms trade and investment. He also underscored the important role of the Spanish language in international cooperation, the UN and ECA have been offering Spanish language courses to staff members and diplomatic personnel for several years.
“Spanish is not only the language spoken in Spain and in the Hispanic countries of Africa and Latin America but is also the mother tongue of more than 496 million people spread across almost all the world’s continents,” said Antonio Pedro, Acting ES ECA.
He saluted the tireless efforts of the Ambassador and Head of the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea to the African Union and the Economic Commission for Africa, Crisantos Obama Ondo, who for several years has been striving to make Spanish one of the official languages of the African Union.
“The recent adoption of Spanish as an official language of the African Union can help open new opportunities and expectations of expanding the Spanish language on the continent and to improve commercial and diplomatic relations with the rest of the world’ said Ambassador Crisantos Obama Ondo of Equatorial Guinea.
He further added, in Africa, there is an increasing demand for Spanish studies in countries such as Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Senegal, Cameroon, Angola, Mozambique, Tunisia, and Ivory Coast. There are currently about 10 million people that speak Spanish in Africa as their first or second language.