Students at a school in Ghana Photo: IC

 "Nihao," said the grinning Margaret Kamau, 20, a Kenyatta University student who is learning the Chinese language in a humble tone.

I stare at her, surprised at what she meant by that. She replied, "I was saying hello."

Margaret said they have made it a habit that they greet each other in the new language that has about 1,000 students this academic year.

"When I said 'nihao,' you should have responded or replied, 'tingbudong,' to mean I hear you, but I don't understand," she says.

It is no doubt that the new language is sweeping across many tertiary institutions in not only Kenya but also in other African countries. In Zimbabwe, for instance, there are tenacious efforts by the public and private sectors to learn the Chinese language, which they say will significantly help bridge the cultural gap existing between Chinese investors and the locals.

In neighboring Zambia, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana and Angola, learning Chinese as a second or third language has become the norm, gradually replacing English, German, Portuguese and French, some of the most common Western languages used in the continent that were introduced during the colonial era.

It is widely seen that the fast increase in Chinese investments and trade has spurred the trend. China is Africa's biggest trading partner, having surpassed the US in 2009. Trade between Africa and China has grown at a breakneck pace. In 2000, it was $10.5 billion, rising to $40 billion in 2005 and $166 billion in 2011. No doubt China is eager to maintain the momentum through initiatives, such as a $20 billion credit to African countries to develop infrastructure and the African Talents Program, which is intended to train 30,000 Africans in various sectors. But it is the embracing of the Chinese language that is likely to give China a deeper, stronger and well defined platform for its investors in Africa.

"Whenever there are investors coming into the country from China, I am always contacted by the government to assist with translation work. With the increased number of investors coming from the Asian nation, I have absorbed five other youths, who have now enrolled for Chinese language classes in a local college," says Mercy Naturinda, a communications specialist in Kampala, Uganda.

Ms Naturinda, who speaks fluent English, French, Luganda (a local Ugandan language) said the French language has been of little use to her as "rarely do the French people visit Uganda."

In fact, the Chinese language is not new in Africa. The learning of the language dates back to the 1960s and 1970s when Africa would send its military personnel to China for training. Today, though, the learning has been accelerated by continued and intensified cooperation between Africa and China. Initially, cultural gaps slugged the "mutual friendship" which in some instances saw Chinese investors clash violently with the locals. That, it seems, is no longer the case as cultural gaps are narrowed.

"By learning Chinese language, Africans stand to strike an understanding with investors and businessmen from China, thereby boosting development," said Phanuel Masekele, a socio-cultural expert in Cape Town, South Africa.

To properly promote the Chinese language and culture, African countries are exploiting the concept of Confucianism. It is the way of life as propagated by Confucius, closely followed by the Chinese people who see it as the substance of learning and the source of values.

Zimbabwe leads the rest of Africa in the training of local teachers in Chinese. The country integrated the Confucius Institute into the University of Zimbabwe's academic structure about eight years ago.

The program has largely been successful in not only Zimbabwe but also Kenya, Zambia, Nigeria, among other African countries which now plan to export the surplus teachers of the Chinese language to other countries.

Beyond its universities where the Chinese language is taught, Kenya recently said it was introducing the new language into its school curriculum to boost Sino-Kenyan relations.

"Kenya is doing big business with China and more Chinese tourists have been visiting Kenya, and having people who can comfortably speak the language is an added advantage," says Julius Jwan, the development chief of Kenya's curriculum institute.

According to Jwan, the content to be taught will be localized in order to make it easier to comprehend the language.

The Chinese language is not only poised to boost communication but to promote Sino-Africa relations. Translators and interpreters of foreign languages are reaping the benefits of the development.

"There are huge benefits in learning foreign languages. Currently, the Chinese language is by far the most sought after because of the huge population in the continent. All the people we train are quickly employed by international companies as soon as they finish their Chinese language courses. Of course they are paid handsomely," said Charity Chelangat, the proprietor of Ripkaa Language Consultants based in Nairobi.

Ms Chelangat said the world is shrinking, compelling people to exhaustively understand each other's culture and language. But it is not all rosy as African countries embrace the new language. Enthusiasts of French, German, Portuguese and English claim there is a "deliberate" move to kill Western languages.

"We have to carefully assess the move to sacrifice other languages that are already deeply ingrained in our culture such as French and English for a new baby, Chinese. Of course the Chinese language is hot in the market today. But that does not make other languages redundant," observes Masekele.

So as not to create conflict between Chinese and other foreign languages in Africa, Masekele said that investors from China should also learn these languages. "It is not just Africans that need to learn the Chinese language, the people from China should also learn French or English, among other languages," he said.

The author is a journalist on African issues based in Nairobi, Kenya. mkapchanga@gmail.com