African Transcription Services

The African continent has the highest linguistic diversity in the world, with an estimated 2,000 spoken languages and an additional 8,000 dialects that fall into six major linguistic families each with a different geographic distribution: AFRO-ASIATIC, NILO-SAHARAN, KHOISAN, NIGER-CONGO, AUSTRONESIAN and INDO-EUROPEAN

Our network of local native-speakers support your business with its African language goals with a comprehensive and reliable transcription service in the majority of Africa’s languages and dialects.

Swahili, known as a ‘Bantu’ language is said to have originated from other languages such as Arabic and is the most spoken language in Africa. With around 150 million speakers, Swahili is the official language of Tanzania, and Uganda, as well as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya. The Swahili language is also spoken in many other countries like Somalia, Ethiopia, Burundi, Rwanda, Sudan, northern Mozambique and the Comoros Islands.

Along with Arabic which is the world’s sixth most spoken language and also has 150 million Arabic speakers in Africa, Swahili is thought to be Africa’s most spoken language. 

Absolute Translations is the UK’s leading translation company for African transcription services, with 20+ years’ experience transcribing content in many African languages. From widely spoken African languages such as Arabic, Somali, Yoruba, Shona, Swahili, Aramaic or Tswana, to rarer African languages or dialect such as the Ethiopian dialect Sidaama or the Benin tribal language Bariba. So if you’re looking for African transcription in a rare language or dialect, our professional team will work to connect you with a native speaker, even where other agencies may have failed.

Our translators and transcriptionists all have a minimum of five years’ experience translating in their native language, and our unique ISO 17100:2015 certification, which is awarded only to linguistic service providers of the highest quality, is your guarantee that we’ll always deliver the best standard of work for the most affordable prices.

Our extensive translator network covers even the rarest African languages but our emphasis is always firmly on customer service, that’s why we invest in new technologies to increase efficiency and aim to deliver a premium service whatever your requirements.

So, whether you need transcription from Amharic or Oromo, spoken in Ethiopia and by 2 million Ethiopians living elsewhere in the world, or from Swahili, the official language of Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda, or Yoruba with its numerous dialects, spoken in Nigeria, Togo and Benin, we can connect you with a local experienced transcriber who will be able to translate your content accurately and fast.