Swahili in Rwanda

Since 2017, Swahili is one of four official languages of Rwanda. Swahili was introduced in Rwanda during colonial period but it had no legal status in Rwanda until recently when Rwandan MPs passed a law in February 2017 to make Swahili the country's fourth official language alongside Kinyarwanda, the national language, French and English. This language is spoken by few Rwandans. According to the Fifth Rwanda Population and Housing Census (2022), only 0.7% of Rwandans (or 58,027 Rwandans) aged 15 years and above are literate in Kinyarwanda and Swahili. No Rwandan speaks Swahili only. Swahili language in Rwanda remains important especially in small commercial enterprises and in some muslim communities.