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African Greetings

From Anouk Zijlma,
Your Guide to Africa Travel.
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How to say "Hello" in Africa

Below are some African greetings that will help you establish a friendly rapport with local people while you're traveling in Africa. Since there are over 800 languages spoken in Africa I've had to narrow down the choices quite a bit. I've sorted it out per country and since some languages cross borders, the greeting may be repeated. Let me know if you know of more and I'll be happy to include them!

Note: unless indicated, the greeting should work for most of the country.

How to say "hello" in:

Angola
Portuguese: Bom Dia (Good Morning), Boa tarde (Good afternoon), Boa noite (Good evening)

Botswana
Setswana: Dumela mma/rra (to woman/man)
English: Hello

Burkina Faso
French: Bonjour
Dioula: in-i-che

Cameroon
French: Bonjour
English: Hello (in the west of Cameroon)

Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
French: Bonjour
Dioula: in-i-che

Egypt
Arabic: salaam aleikum
English: Hello

Ethiopia
Amharic: teanastellen
English: Hello

Gabon
French: Bonjour

Ghana
Twi: ah-kwah-bah
Ga: meeng-gah-bou (spoken in the capital Accra)
Hausa: sannu (spoken in northern Ghana)
English: Hello

Kenya
Swahili: Salama/Jambo
English: Hello

Lesotho
South Sotho: Lumela
English: Hello

Libya
Arabic: salaam aleikum

Madagascar
Malagasy: Salama
French: Bonjour

Mauritania
Arabic: salaam aleikum
Hassaniya: sa-la-mah ah-lay-kum

Morocco
Arabic: Arabic: salaam aleikum
French: Bonjour

Mozambique
Portuguese: Bom Dia (Good Morning), Boa tarde (Good afternoon), Boa noite (Good evening)

Mali
French: Bonjour
Bambara: i-ni-cheh
Tamashek: met-al-ee-khah(Tuareg language)

Malawi
Chichewa: Moni
English: Hello

Namibia
Afrikaans: Hallo
Damara/Nama: !gai//oas (spoken in the south and southeast)
Herero/Himba: Tjike (spoken in the north central and northwest)
English: Hello

Nigeria
Hausa: sannu
Igbo: ee-bow-lah-chee(southeastern Nigeria)
Yoruba: bah-oh
English: Hello
French: Bonjour

Rwanda
French: Bonjour

Senegal
French: Bonjour
Fulfulde: no ngoolu daa
Wolof: na nga def

South Africa
Zulu: Sawubona
Xhosa: Molo
Afrikaans: Hallo
English: Hello

Sudan
Arabic: salaam aleikum

Swaziland
Swati: Sawubona
English: Hello

Tanzania
Swahili: Salama/Jambo
English: Hello

Togo
French: Bonjour

Tunisia
French: Bonjour
Arabic: salaam aleikum

Uganda
Swahili: Salama/Jambo
English: Hello

Zambia
English: Hello
Bemba: Muli shani

Zimbabwe
English: Hello
Shona: Mhoroi
Ndebele: Sawubona

Source: Lonely Planet Guide Books

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