Linguistic Communication and Trade Facilitation between Rwanda and DRC

Linguistic communication and trade activities go hand in hand. People who are involved in trading activities whether within or outside of the country always need language communication so as to transmit information which mostly makes it easy to dispatch goods and services. Exportation of agro-food products is one of trading activities which is predominantly practiced between African nations. Language is one of the natural factors that affect trade in Africa and since Africa counts as many languages as reported by linguists it becomes difficult to dispatch business related information more specifically when trade is done at the micro level among bordering communities. For instance communities that border Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo are the concrete example of the situation. Looking at language factor these communities do not share language which means language communication is crucial for these communities to trade smoothly and easily. This work looked at the effects that might be caused by these differences in language and what benefits do traders gain when they share language of communication with their partners.