Two new language services have been launched by the BBC World Service for Igbo and Yoruba speakers in Nigeria and West and Central Africa.
According to BBC, their digital content is mainly aimed at audiences who use mobile phones.
Igbo is primarily spoken in south-east Nigeria and Yoruba in the south-west, as well as in Benin and Togo.
The new services are part of the World Service’s biggest expansion since the 1940s, following a government-funding boost announced in 2016.
- Advertisement -
In total, 12 services are being launched by the BBC in Africa and Asia.
The BBC’s expansion in Nigeria – Africa’s most populous country where more than 200 languages are spoken – began last year with BBC Pidgin, which targets those who use the regional English-based lingua franca.
It is primarily an oral language, without a standard agreed written form.
The BBC Igbo and Yoruba teams have also faced challenges to standardise their written languages for modern audiences – and have sought advice from academics.
