2019 Francophonie festival to be launched
The 2019 Francophonie Festival has been launched at the Alliance Française in Accra.
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The Togolese Afro-funk group, Voudou Game, will take the stage with an opening concert in a grand style.
Following annual tradition, the Francophone Embassies in Ghana, together with Alliance Française Accra, are organising various events in honour of the Francophonie. Its cultural and linguistic diversity will be celebrated in a laid back and joyful atmosphere and these shall include concerts, job application skills workshops, sporting events, film screenings, debates, French language singing and spelling contests, gastronomic events, an art exhibition and a stand-up comedy.
The Ambassador of France to Ghana, Madam Anne Sophie Ave, told the Daily Graphic that the International Day of the Francophonie was celebrated on the 20th of March every year all over the world.
She said the term, “Francophonie”
The International Organisation of La Francophonie, created in 1970, she noted, represented one of the biggest linguistic zones in the world and its mission was to embody the active solidarity among its 88-member states and governments, which consisted 61 members and 27 observers.
Together, she said, they represented over one-third of the United Nations member states and accounted for a population of over 890 million people, including 274 million French speakers.
IOF organises political activities alongside the four main objectives which it has been assigned:
Ghana’s membership
Since 2006, she said, Ghana had had the status of an associate member within the International Organisation of La Francophonie.
She said the Francophone community in Ghana commended the tremendous efforts the Ghanaian government was making to improve regional integration through the development of the French language across the country.
Last year, 1st February 2018, the Council of Francophone ambassadors in Ghana called on Ghana’s President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at the presidency.
During the meeting, she said, several proposals geared towards the development of French and La Francophonie in Ghana were tabled for discussion, among which were building international media partnerships with the Ministry of Communication and the continuous support for government’s initiatives in education and cooperation in pivotal sectors including culture and economic relations.
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