West African Pidgin as a tool for socio-economic development

This paper highlights the important role of Pidgin in economic development in West Africa. We use a unificationist model of dependence relations to explain the nexus between West African Pidgin (WAP) and the region's socio-economic development. The study draws on the formidable role that Pidgin plays as the language of communication in the thriving informal cross-border markets along the Nigerian-Cameroonian border. The use of Pidgin is a special case of the general phenomenon of indigenous languages that serve as vehicular languages of the informal economy in Sub-Saharan Africa. The paper argues that the existence of WAP as a language of informal economic activities in this region fosters cooperation and social cohesion that plays a role in the expansion of informal cross-border trade, which is a primary source of household income for the people. The research reveals a sociolinguistic dimension to the expansion of informal economic activities that are a prerequisite to wealth creation and poverty elimination. This finding also suggests that Pidgin can be harnessed for an efficient transition from the informal to the formal economy. Therefore, the paper advocates a region-wide language policy that recognizes Pidgin as a factor in the region's economic growth and development.

Résumé: Cet article met en evidence le rôle important du pidgin dans le développement économique de l'Afrique de l'Ouest. A l'aide des relations de co-dependance, nous expliquerons le lien entre le pidgin ouest-africain (WAP) et le développement socio-économique de la région. L'étude s'appuie sur le rôle formidable que joue le pidgin comme langue de communication dans les marchés transfrontaliers informels florissants le long de la frontière nigériano-camerounaise. L'utilisation du pidgin est un cas particulier du phénomène général des langues indigènes qui servent de langues véhiculaires de l'économie informelle en Afrique subsaharienne. L'article soutient l'idee selon laquelle, l'existence du pidgin en tant que langue des activités économiques informelles dans cette région, favorise la coopération et la cohésion sociale qui joue un rôle dans l'expansion du commerce transfrontalier informel, qui est une source principale de revenus pour les ménages. La recherche révèle une dimension sociolinguistique à l'expansion des activités économiques informelles qui sont une condition préalable à la création de richesse et à l'élimination de la pauvreté. Ces résultats suggèrent également que le pidgin peut être exploité pour une transition éfficace de l'économie informelle à l'économie formelle. Par conséquent, l'article préconise une politique linguistique à l'échelle de la région qui reconnaît le pidgin comme un facteur de croissance et de développement économique de cette région.

Resumo: Tiu ĉi referaĵo emfazas la gravan rolon de Piĝino en ekonomia evoluo en Okcidenta Afriko. Ni aplikas unuigistan modelon de dependecaj rilatoj por klarigi la kunligon inter Okcidentafrika Piĝino (WAP) kaj la sociekonomia evoluo de la regiono. La studo fokusiĝas je la impona rolo ludata de Piĝino kiel komuniklingvo en la florantaj neformalaj translimaj bazaroj laŭlonge de la niĝeria-kameruna landlimo. La uzado de Piĝino estas speciala ekzemplo de la ĝenerala fenomeno de indiĝenaj lingvoj kiuj rolas kiel perilaj lingvoj en la neformala ekonomio de Subsahara Afriko. La referaĵo argumentas, ke la ekzisto de WAP kiel lingvo de neformalaj ekonomiaj aktivecoj en tiu ĉi regiono antaŭenigas kunlaboron kaj socian koheron, kio ludas rolon en ampleksigo de neformala translima komerco, siavice primara fonto de familia enspezado por la popolo. La esploroj malkaŝas socilingvistikan dimension en la ekspansio de tiuj neformalaj ekonomiaj agadoj kiuj konsistigas antaŭpostulon por riĉokreado kaj la elimino de malriĉeco. Tiu konstato implicas ankaŭ, ke Piĝino estas jungebla por efika transiro de la neformala al la formala ekonomio. Sekve, la referaĵo pledas por tutregiona lingvopolitiko kiu rekonas Piĝinon kiel faktoron en la ekonomia kresko kaj evoluo de la regiono.

Keywords: Pidgin; language planning; language policy; cross-border markets; economic development

This paper advocates a greater interest in the role of Pidgin in the economic development of West Africa. It is the beginning of a series of investigations set to highlight the strategic importance of West African Pidgin (hereafter, WAP)[1] as a tool for socio-economic advancement in the region. The relationship between African languages and the economy constitutes a critical factor in the economic, social and political development of African states, particularly considering that less than 20 per cent of the population in most of these states has mastery of the colonial languages ([37]: 79). This connection between African countries' economic prospects and the promotion of indigenous languages has been stressed by sociolinguistics in recent years (see, for instance, the works of [22], [23]; [17] and [37]). However, the long-held colonial view that indigenous languages hinder economic development has discouraged the promotion of African languages in the political and economic mainstreams of African states.

As a result of the debasement of African languages in economic and political mainstreams, discussions on economic growth and development in Africa rarely mention the place and roles of African languages, except as potential barriers to trade ([23]: 182). This negative evaluation of African languages, including Pidgins, for economic development derives from the argument that they are an obstacle to integrating the economies of African countries into international markets ([43]: 75). African scholars such as [23]; [60]; [37] have, however, contested the negative evaluation of African languages for economic development by demonstrating in their studies that African languages are key factors in economic and social development and poverty alleviation in Africa. Despite the growing research on the importance of language in socio-economic development in Africa, there has been a lack of studies on the increased role of Pidgin in the economic development of West African countries, even though the language is a fast-spreading lingua franca across the region. As a vehicular language that allows inter-comprehension among people speaking different mother tongues, WAP has emerged to serve as the lingua franca in the Cameroon-Nigeria border region.[2] Does WAP, as a lingua franca, advance economic and social development in West Africa? Is WAP an important lingua franca (language)?

While the answer to the question about the relationship between marginal languages and economic development is not clear-cut, it is evident that these languages facilitate ordinary people's broad participation in economic activities. In his study on the sociolinguistics of development in Africa, Djité shows that the informal micro-economic level in Africa involves around 90% of the active population and, most often, African languages are the linguistic driver for this sector ([43]: 77). Pidgin, for instance, creates a linguistic wedge in West Africa, providing an easier route for communication between the different ethnicities and nationalities, depending on the contexts of its use as the primary language of micro-economic activities. The data on the size of the informal economy – which engages many more people than the formal economy – suggests that regional lingua francas, such as WAP in West and Swahili in East Africa, ease communication between the people and thus strengthen economic growth in their respective regions ([56]; [71]). As noted by Djité ([23]: 196), therefore, "[t]he question is not about what people need to do with their languages but rather what it is they actually do with their languages".

In this light, while building on the body of research on language and development that views linguistic resources as an essential part of human resources, this study argues that the expansion of informal economic activities, especially at the borders of Nigeria and Cameroon, is dependent on West African Pidgin (WAP) as the common language of informal transborder trade in the region. Pidgin, which is seen as "everybody's language" belonging to no particular ethnic group, fosters cooperation and participation in economic activities, essential for promoting human development. In Section 4, we draw on the case of thriving cross-border informal markets along the border of Nigeria and Cameroon to emphasize the role of Pidgin in economic growth and development of the region. Our analysis shows that WAP is the lingua franca of the people in this area, and it plays a corresponding linguistic role in their thriving cross-border markets, which is a significant source of household income and wealth creation in the border region.

The following section deals with the history and present sociolinguistic status of Pidgin in West Africa. Section 3 discusses issues of language policy and planning, offering a critique of colonial language policy models, which are still widely endorsed in the region but fail to do justice to the positive impacts of WAP as a regional lingua franca. In Section 5, we advocate for language planning that takes the expansion of WAP into perspective in addressing the economic development of the area.[3]Section 6 concludes the paper by emphasizing the need for a region-wide language policy in West Africa that positions WAP as the language that has the potential of facilitating the transition from informal economic activities to the formal economy.

The string of English lexifier Pidgins in the West and Central African region includes Nigerian, Cameroonian, Gambian, Ghanaian, Sierra Leonian, Liberian and Equatorial Guinean Pidgin.[4] The different varieties of Pidgin spoken in the region are due to the influence of contact with different indigenous and official languages in these countries. The strong influence from Krio levels out Pidgins in Sierra Leone, The Gambia and Liberia. All these Pidgins, including Nigerian, Ghanaian, and Cameroonian Pidgins, are close enough for mutual intelligibility because they are English-lexifier Pidgins (even though there is some Spanish influence on Pichi and French influence on Cameroon Pidgin). The Nigerian, Ghanaian and Cameroonian varieties have similar structural features that make them more mutually intelligible with broad grassroots appeal in the region. However, we focus on Nigerian and Cameroonian Pidgins due to their mutual intelligibility and the shared border region and trans-border markets.

Nigeria and Cameroon reflect the dense multilingualism and linguistic diversity that is typical of most sub-Saharan countries. Such linguistic contexts lead to language contact which in turn generates and facilitates the birth of hybrid varieties that may lead to new languages. WAP is the product of a multilingual situation in which people who wish to communicate must find and improvise a simple language system that enables them do so ([74]: 601). Pidgin in Nigeria and Cameroon emerged as a result of contact between speakers of indigenous languages and European languages. The European languages served as major lexifiers and were considered the superstrates, while the African languages were termed substrate languages. This is why Nigerian and Cameroonian Pidgins are sometimes termed Pidgin English because the superstrate or the main lexifier is the English language ([3]).

In Nigeria the language is called Broken, Broken English, or Pidgin English ([28]) and recently Naija ([57]; [69], [45]) while in Cameroon we talk of bush English, Broken English and Kamtok ([70]; [46]; [47]; [9] and [53]). Whatever these varieties of Pidgins are called, they are linked by the fact that they share a common history of origin: slavery and the slave trade, resettlement of the liberated slaves, colonialism, postcolonialism and globalization ([33]). The pre-history of WAP can be traced as far back as the 15th century, when people living in the coastal territories of Sub-Saharan Africa had contact with the Portuguese, the Dutch, the French and – from the 17th and 18th centuries – increasingly the British.

A catalyst that increased the spread of Pidgins in West Africa beginning from the late 18th century was the fact that Africans who had been liberated from slavery were dropped by the British navy on the Sierra Leone peninsula, about 1,500 km west of Ghana following the establishment of Sierra Leone in 1787 by British Abolitionist Zachary Macaulay, together with blacks from England. Further influx from North America and Jamaica followed in 1792 and 1800 respectively. These ex-slaves began to establish relations with their respective countries of origin. This led to the spread of Sierra Leone Krio along the West African coast. For instance, evidence of contact with different indigenous Nigerian, Ghanaian and Cameroonian tribal languages can be observed in examples such as fufu-paste; Awuf/Njo'o-to cheat on someone; Koki/moi-moi pudding; Soya-beef steak; Okrika-second hand goods; Juju-masquerade. In other words, contemporary GhaP, NaiP and CamP, which emerged as a result of the Atlantic slave trade and became consolidated during the British colonial period, have continued spreading very fast in the 21st century, thanks to multimedia and growth of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

Pidgin in these countries therefore follows a similar evolution; its spread has similar and parallel catalysts and paths. The Pidgins exist in a diglossic relation with English. While Standard Nigerian, Ghanaian and Cameroonian English are used in formal contexts (administration, law, and education), Pidgin is used in informal contexts (markets, on the streets, among friends). The three varieties of Pidgin are mutually intelligible to a high degree. They have much of their vocabulary and many grammatical features in common and have become firmly established as important lingua francas in the area ([52]; [1]; [5]; [63]). For instance, to say to a friend let's go in Ghanaian Pidgin we say Chalé, make we go; in Nigerian Pidgin O-boy, make we dey go; in Cameroonian Pidgin Massa, kam we go. As would be expected, the most significant social and geographical differences are found in the address terms, whereas the vocabulary and the grammatical structure are rather similar across the various dialects of Pidgin. Pidgin, unlike Standard English, is a language of the common man and therefore accessible to all, including the underprivileged and less educated buyam sellam[5] ([68]).

In spite of the strategic importance of WAP, its beneficial role in promoting socio-economic growth and development is rarely mentioned and mostly excluded from the economic planning of the region ([43]: 75). It remains socially and politically marginalized, and the government gives no official status to the language ([26]; [34]; [28]; [5]). Pidgin is not officially recognized, not codified, not standardized. Although WAP serves an essential function as a community language and lingua franca, a language that indexes a de-ethnicized urban identity in all three countries, it has no official recognition in these countries ([76]). The lack of recognition of Pidgin in the official language planning of these countries is not unrelated to the inherited language planning models in postcolonial societies. The language planning model that has ensured the marginalization of African languages is described in the following section.

This section articulates the framework for language policy regimes in Nigeria and Cameroon to understand the structural marginalization of African indigenous languages. The colonial language policy models in both Anglophone and Francophone African countries have the same structure in terms of overt de jure policies that do not reflect these societies' de facto multilingual reality. In essence, the "overt" (explicit, formalized, codified) and "covert" (implicit, informal, unstated, grass-roots reality) language policy models ([64]: 27) define the post-colonial societies' language policy directions. This is in terms of language policy regime, which is an overt and explicit embodiment of rules that dictate the languages to be taught in schools and the ones to be used as the official languages and, at the same time, ignores hundreds of indigenous languages,[6] most of which are non-standardized languages in these countries.[7]

The overt language policy relates, on the one hand, to the domains of literary or standard languages,[8] which are often the countries' official languages, such as English in Nigeria and French and English in Cameroon, making them essential languages for upward socio-economic mobility. Bearth refers to this as the "dominant language bias", whereby languages imported by the colonizers were seen by the postcolonial elites as intrinsically suited for African societies' development and innovation (2008: 20). Meanwhile, the political leaders and local elites are complicit as they have promoted foreign languages over indigenous ones. As much as the elites maintained colonial languages as a political strategy to avoid the upheavals that could result in adopting one indigenous language above another, they have also argued that the lack of finance hinders the promotion of local languages to official status. Therefore, the elites have continued with the dominant language narrative making it part and parcel of the postcolonial African societies. The dominant language bias thus became an inherent part of the common understanding of human development in these societies (cf. [12]: 20). Thus, colonial languages in these countries remained as languages of official communication in all formal domains (education, administration, and judiciary).

On the other hand, the covert language policy means the government has no official policy for some languages, in this case indigenous spoken languages, such as Pidgin, which is not seen as a relevant language for upward socio-economic mobility despite being spoken by a sizeable portion of the population in Nigeria and Cameroon ([61]: 4, and – for recent figures on the massive spread of NaiP – [29]). Cameroon Pidgin is used in the North-West, South-West, Littoral and Western regions as a language for broader communication. It is also spreading to several Francophone regions and cities of the country. Therefore, the language is no longer restricted to the English-speaking region, as it has spread to the French-speaking parts of the country ([26]; [7]). Similarly, Pidgin is widespread in Nigeria. It serves as a lingua franca covering the entire national territory, fulfilling a crucial national role in practice, though it is currently more used in the South than in the North ([4]: 293). It exists alongside the indigenous languages and Standard English leading to a triglossic relation between these languages in Nigeria ([21]: 208).

This linguistic scenario reiterates the fact that the contemporary language policies in these countries serve a political function of maintaining the dominance of colonial languages. [22] refers to this as a sociolinguistic order that results from a colonial hierarchy of languages whereby the colonial powers deliberately undervalued indigenous languages in order to promote their own languages ([43]: 75). The idea that indigenous languages are inappropriate for formal activities is largely informed by the colonial model that ensures that only the colonial language is used for formal economic transactions and government activities, what Omoniyi ([60]: 11) refers to as the "urban-urban sphere" of the linguistic market, in post-colonial societies.[9] In general, postcolonial African countries share the language policy that colonial languages continue to hold sway at the expense of local languages in practically all prestigious communicative domains ([15]: 663) and that, as a result, the indigenous languages are inappropriate for prestigious activities such as formal economic transactions and government programmes.

As shown in the next section, however, these countries' sociolinguistic realities, especially the use of Pidgin as the vehicular language of informal economic activities, are mismatched to their language policies. In view of the role of African languages in economic growth, we analyse the dependence relation between WAP and informal economic activities, emphasising the thriving cross-border markets, a source of household income and wealth creation for most of the people in towns and villages along the Nigeria-Cameroon southern border area, in the next section.

The analysis in this section builds on the assumption that a shared language is necessary for economic progress.[10] This research strand, mainly found in economics, and more recently in research on human development, has shown evidence that supports the idea that linguistic proximity correlates with the increase in trading activities ([50]) and, as such, upholds broader and more inclusive perspectives on development that harness linguistic practices as an important aspect of human development. Human development, especially "the theories of people's participation", is an interesting framework to analyse the link between language and socio-economic development ([73]: 131). According to this perspective, people's participation is vital for promoting development and the state could help the poor mobilise, primarily through appropriate language policies, to participate in economic activities to achieve economic growth and development (ibid:132). As explained in Bearth's "communicative sustainability", the linguistic medium used for the everyday exchange of information and for negotiating daily life issues is key to the design of development strategies to meet development and global sustainability standards in a given setting ([13]: 16).

Ironically, however, there seems to be a widespread misperception in studies of African economies that the role of such shared languages for economic progress should automatically be performed by the former colonial languages. Regional lingua francas in Africa, such as WAP, which have a proven record of fostering cooperation and participation that facilitates increased trade and market activities across national boundaries, have been largely ignored by researchers and policymakers. Regional lingua francas ensure linguistic connections that sustain trading activities as a driver of growth and development. The need to promote a shared language to integrate trade is based on the idea that linguistic proximity leads to increased trade, creates more wealth and lifts people out of poverty ([31]: 2). As stated above, even though the economic activities of most Africans are in the informal economy, they do not speak promoted official (colonial) languages. Instead, they speak common languages, such as WAP, that ensure situationally appropriate and functional communication and thus facilitate business and trade in the informal sector,[11] which is far more expansive than the continent's formal economic sector that is supposedly integrated into the international market.

To show how regional lingua francas advance economic growth and development, we draw on the case of the thriving cross-border informal markets around Nigeria and Cameroon's southern border to explain the nexus between an African language and the economy. Cameroon and Nigeria are the largest economies in their respective regional organization and share a long border of 1,975 km from the tri-border area in Lake Chad in the North to the Atlantic Ocean in the South. While the Nigerian economy is more extensive than that of Cameroon and the largest in the whole Sub-Saharan region, including in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Cameroon's economy is the largest among the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS). The many cross-border markets along the southern border corridor of these two countries constitute an excellent case study to understand the role of a regional lingua franca such as WAP in facilitating informal economic activities between two major economies in regional organizations in Sub-Saharan Africa. In the section that follows, we use a unificationist model of dependence relations to explain the relationship between WAP and the thriving cross-border markets in the southern corridor of Nigeria and Cameroon long border.

The unificationist model of dependence relations is the idea that an explanation of a phenomenon can be subsumed under an account of another (more general) phenomenon ([48]: 142). According to Kitcher ([41], in [75]), the basic strategy is to evaluate a particular phenomenon from a pattern of derivation that maximally unifies it with a general phenomenon. In this case, the primary use of WAP in informal cross-border markets (specific phenomenon) is a derivative of the informal economy's dependence on vehicular languages, i.e., indigenous languages (general phenomenon). It is a set of explanatory store E(K)[12] defined as the set of argument patterns that maximally unifies K, the set of beliefs accepted at a particular time in science ([75]). In other words, the expansion of informal cross-border trades in which WAP is the facilitating language exhibits a relationship with the use of Pidgin as the primary language of informal economic activities in Nigeria and Cameroon. Several sociolinguists like [36] have shown that Pidgin is a common language and a major language for informal economic activities in major cities like "Lagos, Port Harcourt, Southern region in Nigeria; Accra, Southern region in Ghana; and Douala, Nkongsamba, Bamenda, Buea and Kumba in Cameroon" ([56]: 16).

Therefore, the phenomenon of Pidgin as the primary facilitating language of the informal economic activities in the region also accounts for the language as a linguistic factor in the buoyant informal cross-border trading activities, especially in the southern border corridor of Nigeria and Cameroon. This account derives from Kitcher's single "origin and development" (OD) pattern of explanation according to which a specific phenomenon (i.e., the thriving cross-border markets) can be explained as a derivative of a general phenomenon (i.e., the expansion of Pidgin in informal economic activities) ([75]). The argument is that the existence of WAP as a language of informal economic activities in these countries affects the expansion of informal cross-border markets (Category A, in Figure 1). We understand an explanation, according to McCain ([48]: 144), to be a set of propositions where the "explanans" (i.e., expansion of WAP in the linguistic ecology of these countries) provides information about dependence relations which hold between it and the phenomenon to be explained, the "explanandum", which in our case is the thriving informal cross-border markets.

Graph: Figure 1. Types of informal cross-border trade (culled from [42]

Based on the unificationist model of dependence relations, we believe that the probability for cross-border markets along the Cameroon-Nigeria border to thrive is higher when WAP, as the vehicular language of informal economic activities, is present. As shown in the linguistic demography of cross-border markets in Table 1, WAP is the unifying language of the towns and villages around Nigeria and Cameroon's southern border. This, therefore, suggests that the language facilitates the thriving informal cross-border markets as it is used to sustain and expand this informal economy. In this light, we submit that WAP is particularly relevant to the area's socio-economic development, as the primary language of informal economic activities that creates wealth for most people in these countries. The takeaway is that no one can live and do business in this region and not learn Pidgin. Neither the official colonial languages, English and French, nor any of the region's many indigenous languages are realistic alternatives, and Pidgin has not only a competitive edge, but a monopoly in this important function.

The necessity to speak Pidgin in order to do business efficiently in this region implies that the language is an economically valuable language for informal cross-border trade and, by extension, the informal economy. According to Grin ([32], cited in [65]: 11), a language has a market value if it is transferrable into monetary profits or if a price can be assigned, for example, if speaking language X makes it easier to sell goods to the X-speaking public. Therefore, pidgin as a lingua franca with economic value makes it a plausible target for language and economic planning in the region. However, despite this obvious connection, WAP is not considered to explain the expansion of cross-border trade in the region. The factors relevant to the expansion of informal cross-border trade have mostly been explored from a purely economic perspective, without appropriate attention being given to the linguistic aspect. Lesser and Moisé-Leeman ([42]: 17) submit that "cross-border trade (whether formal or informal) is likely to be influenced by (1) the degree of availability of certain goods, (2) the quality of road and transport infrastructure and, (3) the existence of trust-based networks among traders". As can be noted in this assessment, the human factor is appreciated, but restricted to trust among traders, without asking the obvious follow-up question in which communicative medium such a relationship of trust is established and continuously being maintained.

Table 1. Border markets/entry points (southern border of Nigeria and Cameroon) ([14]; [67])

Table 1 shows the border markets and corresponding entry points along the southern corridor of the Nigerian-Cameroon border where informal cross-border trades are thriving. From Nigeria's borders with Cameroon in Banki-Mora in the north to Mfum-Mamfe in the south, Pidgin features prominently as a communication and trade language.[13] WAP is the primary unifying language that connects these areas, most of which comprise small villages and towns populated mainly with people speaking minor languages and who have less or no proficiency in the official national languages.[14] At these border-markets, WAP ensures communication that facilitates the successful transactions in goods and services between the nationals of these countries. [55], cited in [54], observes that the language is used as the language for trading and communication in these border markets because it is the common language that binds people that speak different languages together.

The informal cross-border economic activities include trade in consumer goods and transportation across the border. The actors include, but are not limited to, smallholder farmers who trade agricultural produce, traders of manufactured consumer products, middle-men (buyam-sellam), and the smallholder transporters such as bus drivers, boat and ferry operators, and okada/bendsikin. The language of taxi drivers and okada/bendsikin conductors in these countries is Pidgin. Motorcycle transport is called okada in Nigeria and bendsikin in Cameroon. In Cameroon, buyam-sellam refers to informal business entrepreneurs (primarily women) who buy foodstuffs and other products from farms and villages and resell them in bigger cities on a retail basis. Income generated by buyam-sellams helps supplement family incomes. It should be noted that buyam-sellams, who are mostly underprivileged and less educated persons and so mostly underprivileged, usually start up with exceedingly small investments, and some eventually grow into established businessmen/women ([20]).

While the economic factors are necessary for explaining the expansion of informal cross-border trade, they are not sufficient to explain the resilience and expansion of informal cross-border markets. WAP has equally become a link language that enhances language-related ethnic ties and trust. The continued growth of informal cross-border markets could, therefore, also link to trust-based networks among traders (that is the third factor as listed above), and trust is quickly established, at the first instance, between people who share a common language. In her investigation on whether speaking other than home languages in Sub-Saharan Africa promotes generalized trust, [17] finds that, by aggregating index of communication potential at the level of region, speaking a common language affects generalized trust positively even though individual trust formation depends on experience at individual level communication. This rightly suggests that WAP, being a lingua franca that transcends national boundaries in West Africa, positively impacts trust formation that influenced the expansion of trading activities that directly and positively impacts development and integration of border communities in the region.

Though little is known about the informal trade volume at these borders because it is largely unregulated, the evidence supports proposition that WAP, as the primary language used by cross-border traders and transporters, facilitates the expansion of the border markets around the Nigeria-Cameroon southern border areas. Pidgin is the common language of the minority linguistic groups, and vehicular language in border markets, scattered around Nigeria and Cameroon's southern borders. It is the 'language engine', though non-standardized, that is driving the flourishing and largely unofficial trading activities in the informal sector. Several sociolinguistic studies have found that Pidgin is the language used for informal market and trading activities ([24]; [72]; [35]). Therefore, we submit that Pidgin's role as a vehicular language of informal trade is significant to the expanding cross-border trading activities as a prelude to wealth creation and poverty eradication in the region.

As a part of the largely unregulated informal economy, the informal cross-border trade could be said to expand or contract in proportion to the informal sector vis-à-vis the formal sector. The informal economy's macro-economic estimates as a share of the labour force or production (GDP), based on the most appropriate and reliable sources at country level, have been the primary indicator used to infer the size of the informal economy and policymaking ([18]). About 50 to 60% of the West African economy is of the informal sector ([49]). The informal cross-border trade is mainly unregulated and an essential part of the informal economic activities representing most of Sub-Saharan Africa's economic output. On this note, we advocate for the recognition of Pidgin in language policies in these countries.

So far, we have discussed the important roles of Pidgin in key aspects of socio-economic development. Specifically, we have covered its roles in the informal economy (trade and market activities). We discovered that the broad and diverse use of Pidgin in different formal and informal sectors has resulted in increased advocacy by scholars and opinion makers for the language to be recognised and given a formal status ([59]; [11]). We share this view and thus argue that sociolinguistic factors should play a pivotal role in policy efforts towards socio-economic development ([52]), not just in the countries under review but also in the entire country region. Therefore, we advocate a language policy that builds on the speakers' agency, the bottom-up agency in language policy and planning ([6]: 321). This advocacy for consideration for the bottom-up language policy decisions aligns with the emerging emphasis in language policy and planning that recognises it as a part of the prerequisite for sustainable development. Harnessing the linguistic practices of local communities for inclusive development has been argued to be a stepping stone towards sustainable development ([13]; [73]: 132).

Therefore, the bottom-up speaker's agency can be the springboard for status planning for the language in the state-imposed top-down language policy model. The appreciation for the bottom-up speaker's agency is especially relevant in communities where Pidgin has become the L1 (or been creolised), which is a disruptive development in terms of the traditional colonial language hierarchies. For as long as Pidgin was used as an additional language in the "triglossic" constellation mentioned above, it was doubly stigmatised. With regard to the colonial language, it was considered a corrupt or inferior variety (as expressed in one of the traditional local names for it, Broken). In comparison to many indigenous languages it did not appear fully indigenous because of its historical links to colonialism and the colonisers' language. We do not deny that Pidgin is a threat to the ethnolinguistic vitality of many less widely spoken indigenous languages in the region and wish to make it clear that our call for more recognition for the usefulness of Pidgin does not imply disregard for the cultural value of linguistic diversity. At the same time, the reality of L1 Pidgin communities is a powerful argument against denying it fully indigenous status.

According to Akande and Salami ([6]: 323), language policy decisions are not only taken by the government (top-down), but also include those taken by ordinary citizens and non-state actors (bottom-up) in their everyday use of language. In this regard, we call for the recognition of the bottom-up language policy decisions of the actors in the informal economic domain (which include but are not limited to smallholder farmers, middle-men (buyam-sellam), smallholder transporters such as bus drivers, okada/bendsikin operators, boat and ferry operators) in the country's formal language policy. For these informal economic actors, the language ensures the highest possible degree of overall communicative effect at the lowest possible transactional cost– an economic principle underlying "communicative sustainability" as a steppingstone to sustainable development ([13]: 17). This is reiterated by Djite ([22]: 3) when he says:

Learning a language or learning through a language should enable the majority of the people to contribute to, and benefit from, economic growth. It should help them understand the practical use of fertilizer and increase the production of maize or rice, improve reproductive health, avoid the curse of preventable and deadly diseases.... That is why conceptual development in a mother tongue is bound to be more effective than the compulsory and sudden immersion in a European language.

With the strong relationship between language and development, the adoption of foreign languages, that is what Bearth ([13]: 20) describes as the "dominant language bias, has contributed to denying many people, especially the poor, the benefits of literacy and empowerment needed to break the poverty cycle. For example, in the countries under review, where poor citizens are mostly illiterate in the European languages, the dominant language bias has reinforced information asymmetry, which causes the exclusion of those in need of development support. Similarly, it has been established that developing countries that have overcome poverty have very high literacy rates, while countries in Sub-Sahara Africa with more poor people have a very high illiteracy rate ([16]).[15] As Bunyi ([16]: 338) suggests, for Africa to overcome its socio-economic challenges, the literacy rates must be raised significantly. According to him, one meaningful way this can be achieved is for us to change our policies regarding all indigenous languages, including Pidgin, in education.

In a first step, Pidgin as the lingua franca can help learners in the educational environment in communities where the language is fast emerging as the L1. The current instrumental use of the language in non-formal programmes run by the government can be used as an impetus for stimulating progressive measures that elaborate community-oriented language policies into the school environment, primarily through "accommodation programmes" on Pidgin English. One way of using it in the educational process is through accommodation programmes that accept the students' home language in the classroom in telling stories and studying literature or music lyrics ([66]: 68). This home language in some cases is an indigenous tongue and in other cases it could be Pidgin. The instructor will have to adopt what is relevant in a particular situation. Accepting the use of WAP in the classroom in telling stories and performing music in the areas where it has a high profile as a lingua franca and is attracting growing numbers of L1 speakers will significantly enhance the status of the language and contribute to socio-economic development. Therefore, we advocate for its codification, standardisation, and official recognition, in order to combat traditional views that Pidgin is detrimental to formal education. Research has shown that adopting Pidgin as a formal language will help greatly in resolving the challenges and difficulties that people (especially in the rural areas) face in terms of "access to information, education, economic opportunities and other resources" ([19]: 149).

The move made so far in having regional organizations and bilateral agreements to facilitate trade is a commendable step that needs to be complemented by promoting WAP as a unifying language. The promotion of Pidgin, a common language, will contribute to national integration and address the age-long unemployment and poverty problems in the region ([11]; [23]; [58]; [16]). Similarly, the formalization and adoption of Pidgin as a common language will help reduce the Anglophone-Francophone divide in Cameroon and generally remove the communication barriers and linguistic boundaries between Nigeria and Cameroon, thus fostering improved socio-economic integration and cooperation between these countries. This is supported by Ojo and Ogunjimi ([58]: 40), who have argued that "Pidgin holds the key to foster unity and national integration in Nigeria" and add that:

Pidgin is the possible language capable of providing common intelligibility among all based on the following evaluations- it is devoid of ethno-political affiliation, its grammar, syntax and phonology are purely Nigerian, it is the most proximate language among the low, middle and high class, it is being used in the media and even in literary texts.

No doubt, achieving this lofty goal of codifying and standardizing Pidgin will be a Herculean one, especially in the present phase of neo-liberal globalization that is further entrenching perceptions of the European languages as superior. Also, the strongly negative perception of and attitude towards Pidgin by a considerable number of people in Nigeria and Cameroon results from a lack of awareness of contemporary sociolinguistic realities and false consciousness. The wrong belief that formal education and other formal transactions can only be effectively done in the European languages has its roots in colonialism, but has easily survived political decolonization. Contemporary realities show that there could be enormous gains in formalizing Pidgin as a language. We submit that to achieve this, concrete steps must be taken to attract the attention of major stakeholders such as teachers, students, parents, politicians, policymakers of the communities and to enlighten them on the importance and benefits of adopting and formalizing Pidgin as an official language in these spaces. This will align with the notions of "dialogic consciousness" ([30]) and "Engaged Language Policy and Practice" ([19]).

West African English-lexifier Pidgin, whose roots lie in the 17th and 18th centuries, is today a more widespread second language of the region than English ([34]: 869–870, [29]). Pidgin has emerged as a neutral language that reduces the sociocultural and sociolinguistic differences between people who have remarkably diverse cultures and languages ([10]: 184). As a neutral language that facilitates communication across linguistic and cultural boundaries in West Africa, WAP has become a crucial aspect of the functioning of trans-national informal economic activities in the region. It is, therefore, an ideal language that allows speakers to transcend language barriers to explore economic opportunities easily. In other words, it fulfils an important function as a lingua franca in national and transnational marketplaces, thereby highlighting its usefulness for socio-economic development in West Africa. As a major vehicular language for informal economic activities in the region, Pidgin enables traders to reach multiple markets to explore greater opportunities and keep transaction costs for traders to a minimum. It removes the need for an additional cost on translation services, thereby enhancing socio-economic development.

The erroneously negative consideration that Pidgin is a form of broken English is an inherited colonial notion. This colonial mentality, which privileged colonial languages over African languages, will eventually change if Pidgin is recognised in language policy. Current realities reveal that economic prospects for African countries are not unconnected to the promotion of indigenous languages, especially a regional lingua franca like WAP. This potential is beginning to be noted even in the formal sector of the economy. The expansion of banking services in rural areas, where people who lack proficiency in the official language speak indigenous languages has produced new attitudes towards the Pidgin language. The contemporary dynamics of English and Pidgin's coexistence in various domains of language use speak volumes to the increase in Pidgin's acceptability in formal language domains ([4]: 294). For example, when necessary, in Nigerian courts Pidgin is used, even though it is excluded in written form in legal documents. If Pidgin is promoted by national governments as an instrument to mobilize people to move from the informal to the formal sector of the economy, its image will improve and the negative attitudes towards the language will change. Promoting, standardising and codifying Pidgin will boost its prestige ([61]). The use of a codified and accepted Pidgin as an instrument for upward economic mobility will positively impact both the official and user's perception of the language.

Rather than take WAP for granted as an ordinary vernacular, policymakers should not shy away from accepting a role for it in the formal economy. It is a valuable language that deserves attention in language policy planning for mobilizing people and economic activities from the predominantly informal economy into the formal sector in West Africa. Researchers can do more in applied research, especially evaluating the effectiveness of Pidgin in mobilizing people in the informal economy into the formal sector. As we have also clarified, language-planning measures taken for Pidgin should be developed in the frame of coordinated language policies for other indigenous languages.