While 13.5 million people of the Moroccan population are French-speaking, i.e. a rate of 36%, a “distancing” of the French language is being felt in the Kingdom in favor of other languages such as English or Spanish. This was revealed by the specialized global data portal “ Statistics“, based on figures from the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF).
According to the explanations attached to the statistics published recently by ” Statistics “, and which reveal the rate of use of the French language among the population of a number of countries around the world during the past year, the number of speakers means “ the total number of individuals who master the language, but do not use it daily or regularly in their lives “.
According to the same data, Morocco ranks fourth in the world among “ the most French-speaking countries in terms of number of speakers », after France (97% of the total population), the Democratic Republic of Congo (50%), Algeria, of which approximately 15 million inhabitants (33% of the population) speak French.
For some time now, many researchers and experts in languages and linguistics have observed a ” gradual decline », in quantity and quality, of the presence of the French language in Morocco and in several African countries formerly colonized by France.
This decline is accompanied by strong political indicators and a cooling of relations between France and its former colonies, in particular Morocco where a ” silent crisis is observed between Rabat and Paris. Despite France’s attempt to deny the existence of any tension between the two countries that could lead to the deterioration of its interests in the Kingdom, the crack is there, even if it does not say its name.
The growing tendency to move away from Molière’s language was notably noted during the announcement of the holding of activities concerning certain Moroccan politicians and foreign personalities, or even during meetings organized by official Moroccan institutions (such as the Academy of the Kingdom, which recently debated themes and held seminars in Spanish or English).
Although the “French language” has always been “ the fashion of public and political communication for many Moroccan politicians and actors, a poster was formulated in English for a meeting which brought together Mohamed Ouzzine, secretary general of the Popular Movement (MP), and vice-president of the House of Representatives, on Wednesday, with ambassadors belonging to the diplomatic corps accredited to Morocco.
Moreover, Ouzzine even spoke in front of the public in classical Arabic, making many people wonder if it was not some kind of “ semi-rupture with a language that has long dominated aspects of public life in the Kingdom.
The French language was also absent during the activities of the ” Seventh International Parliamentary Forum for Social Justice which was held in the House of Councilors last Tuesday. French was absent from the event’s introductory posters, and from the speeches of Moroccan and foreign guests at the forum.
Another sign to illustrate (or mark) this rupture, in mid-February, during the ministerial meeting of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris, the Minister Delegate for Investment, Mohcine Jazouli, is addressed to participants in English.
If Jazouli’s speech, where he spoke at length about Morocco’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals, was very noticed, what was most noted was indeed the choice of language.