Who are language service providers (LSPs)? Many explanations exist that define the market and profession we find ourselves in and have carved our niche. Simply put, these are companies, agencies or individuals providing language-related services, including translation, localization, interpretation, transcription and subtitling.
The African Language Services Industry is one that seems difficult to grasp and understand. This may largely be due to data gaps, the absence of robust structures, lack of engagement among professionals in the region as well as weak and obsolete regulatory bodies and associations.
In the third episode of Africa’s LSP Podcast titled “State of Africa’s LSP Industry: the perspective of Johan Botha of Folio Online,” Ady Namaran Coulibaly hosted Johan Botha, the Director of Folio Online, a language service provider based in Cape Town, South Africa. Johan shared his perspectives about the state of the African language industry, particularly with regards to the scalability of LSPs, growth potential, and lack of collaborative efforts among language professionals and LSPs.
In his view, LSPs on the continent do not invest enough to expand and grow in order to tap into available resources and opportunities. He also bemoaned the lack of interest of LSPs to gain more knowledge on the ins and outs of the industry. Johan also noted that the urge to “compete” has stifled collaboration among industry players, and this is affecting the growth prospects of the language services industry on the continent. “I want there to be a boom in the language services industry in Africa,” Johan noted during the episode.
Language service providers in Africa have a key role to play to contribute to this much awaited boom of the industry. The potential for growth is enormous, considering the increasing number of language technologies that are being developed. The Nimdzi 2020 Language Technology Atlas listed several platforms: Translation Management System; Integrators, Machine Translation, Interpreting Systems, etc. These platforms are changing the industry landscape and creating greater opportunities for language professionals and companies. Is the continent poised to harness this potential?
This is an intriguing question which, for us at Bolingo, we’re still striving to find answers to. It’s been a motivating factor in our launching of Africa’s LSP Podcast.
Are you equally curious about the language industry in Africa? Listen to the full episode with Johan Botha together with other amazing conversations and share your insights with us.
