According to points 6 and 15 of the statutes, the African Academy of Languages (ACALAN) has just organised, from December 8 to 9, 2016, a meeting of its Scientific and Technical Committee at its Head Office in Bamako, Republic of Mali.
The aim of the meeting was to examine activities of ACALAN, taking into account its plan of action.
The Executive Secretary of CERDOTOLA, Pr. Charles BINAM BIKOI, took an active part on the meeting in his capacity of member of the aforementioned Scientific and Technical Committee. Indeed, it is worth recalling that, ACALAN and CERDOTOLA stand at the crossroads in their history as African Institutions mandated for the promotion of African languages. They both organised in 2007 from October 9 to 11 in Yaoundé, a first Regional Conference under the theme: “the role of cross-border languages and the place of low-echoed languages in Central Africa”. A second one in 2012 from December 12 to 14 under the theme: “the experts meeting on the Atlas linguistics of Africa project”. This last meeting came after a series of technical encounters focusing on the preparation of the global project of Atlas linguistics of Africa concerning the whole continent.
In this respect, CERDOTOLA, pioneer on the matter, since its creation in 1977, had put in place and ruled the coordination of some linguistic projects in partnership with the ACCT (Cultural and Technical Agency of Cooperation) namely the ALAC project (Atlas linguistics of Central Africa) and LETAC project ( thematic lexis of Central Africa). Most of this projects have witness a happy end from the 1983s with the publication of Atlas linguistics for five countries (Burundi, Cameroon, Central Africa Republic, Congo and Democratic Republic of Congo). The thematic lexis (economic and social activities) have been published in seven languages of the Central Africa sub-region: Sango (CAR), sara ngambay (Chad) basaa (Cameroon), ikinyarwanda (Rwanda), ciluba monokutuba and kishahili (DRC).
In 1984, second generation projects have been launched mainly the DIMO projects (Monolingual Dictionaries), the LEXIS projects (specialised Lexis), the DYLAN project (Dynamic of languages) and the project DELAN (Systematic Description of Languages).
In 2010, CERDOTOLA moved from Regional Center to International Center. Thanks to its new status, CERDOTOLA, implementing its Scientific framework-programme, line 4 entitled: languages and development, engaged in the giant programme Atlas Linguistics of Africa whose experimental phase contributed in the new editions of Atlas Linguistics of DRC (2010), and of three volumes of the linguistic landscape of Cameroon (2012).
It is in the prospect of developing this important experience that the Executive Secretary of CERDOTOLA decided to work with the Specialised Institution of the African Union, as regional main point of ACALAN in Central Africa so as to strengthen and stimulate the perspectives of the continental project of Atlas Linguistics, one of the main points on the agenda.
In Bamako, apart from the registered members of the Committee present at this meeting, the former Executive Secretary a. i. of ACALAN, Mr. Adama Samassekou, who set up the basis of the borning African Academy of Languages.