Havana hosts 1st International Conference on Kiswahili

HAVANA, Cuba, Nov 8 (ACN) The 1st International Conference on Kiswahili, the most widely used language in the countries of the African Union, was opened today at the Havana Convention Center, as part of the activities of the International Fair of Havana, in order to deepen the knowledge of the Kiswahili language, the most widely used language in the countries of the African Union, and to expand its international relevance.

The event saw the presentation of the first Spanish-Kiswahili dictionary, an edition jointly elaborated by Tanzanian and Cuban professors and part of the results of the implementation of the cooperation agreement between the universities of Havana and Dar Es Salaam, signed last year.

Miriam Nicado Garcia, rector of the University of Havana, expressed to those present the bonds of brotherhood and solidarity between the two nations, based on the friendship of historic leaders Fidel Castro and Julius Nyerere.

For his part, the Tanzanian minister of culture, arts and sports Damas Daniel Ndumbaro referred that this language is a "romantic" language, with a very interesting past, full of rhymes and beautiful sounds, and with a great capacity of interconnection between different continents of the world.

More than 300 guests from 10 countries attended the International Kiswahili Conference, including international language specialists and speakers, as well as academics, students, representatives of educational institutions, media, and government, civil society organizations involved in the Kiswahili language, culture and products.

The meeting was chaired by the member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and foreign minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, Comrade Rabia Abdallah Hamid, secretary for Political and International Affairs of the United Republic of Tanzania and member of the Central Committee of the Chama Cha Mapazundi Party, Mahmoud Thabit, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation in East Africa, Jenister Joachin, Minister of Health, Tabia Maluid, Minister of Information, Youth, Culture and Sports of Zanzibar and Alpidio Alonso Grau, Minister of Culture of Cuba.