Google on Thursday highlighted 11 unique historic heritage of Africa to further celebrate Africa Day 2020.
Mr Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, Communication Officer, Google West Africa said in a statement that Africa’s rich cultural heritage was visible in its languages, food, tourist attractions and most especially, its people.
Africa Day was celebrated on May 25.
YouTube marked the day with a benefit concert to raise funds for foods and health needs of children and families most affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Kola-Ogunlade said it was in furtherance of the celebration that 11 tourist and historic heritage in Africa were highlighted which included foods, languages, travel destination, African early arts, mineral resources, heritage sites, among others.
“Over 25 per cent of the world’s languages are spoken only in Africa, which is home to an estimated 2,000 languages.
“With a population of over one billion people, Africa has the highest linguistic diversity in the world.
“Nigeria alone is known to have over 250 languages while Arabic is the most widespread official language. Other widely spoken languages are Berber, Igbo, Swahili, Hausa, Zulu, Portuguese, Amharic and Yoruba,” he said.
He said that for heritage sites, there was ‘smoke that thunders’, ‘iSimangaliso – a place of miracle and wonder’, ‘Mosi-oa-Tunya’, or ‘Kilimanjaro’, saying that these were just a few of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Africa.
Açcording to him, Africa has a total of 89 cultural world heritage sites – places that represent the combined works of nature and of man which reveals Africa’s beauty and diversity.
He said that some other heritage sites to look out for were the Okavango Delta in Botswana, Namib Sand Sea in Namibia and Osun Osogbo Sacred Grove in Nigeria.
He said that Africa was still one of the best travel destinations in the world that welcomed visitors to its clear beaches, wondrous vistas and a rich history.
Kola-Ogunlade said that the travel destination were from the National Museums of Kenya to the Arab Republic of Egypt, considered to be the cradle of civilisation.
He said that around 30 per cent of the earth’s remaining mineral resources were in Africa which included uranium, platinum, diamonds, cobalt, gold, oil and gas reserves.
“It is interesting to note that half of the gold ever mined on earth came from a single place – the Witwatersrand in South Africa,’’ he said.
According to him, Art has always been synonymous with Africans and the earliest form of African art is rock art.
He said that the oldest rock art images, scientifically dated from 27,000 years ago were in Namibia.
Açcording to him, Africa has been home to some of the world’s oldest civilisations and now, it is the home to a very young growing population.
He said that the African population was much younger than the rest of the world with over 50 per cent of Africans under the age of 20.
He said this had enabled the continent to record growth in industries that fitted this young demography such as fintech, entertainment, transportation, technology, real estate, fashion and food processing.
Kola-Ogunlade said that Africa was arguably considered the cradle of the world’s civilisation.
According to him, the second largest continent in the world is distinctively unique and offers an unparalleled experience for those willing to visit or know more about its heritage.
