Smooth, Professional Translations between Igbo and English

Nigeria is one of the world’s most multilingual countries, boasting more than 500 languages across Africa’s most populous country. One of the most widely spoken is Igbo, spoken in southeastern Nigeria by more than 45 million people. Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea are also home to minority populations of Igbo speakers, with large diasporas present in the US, the UK, Canada, and elsewhere. So, if you’re looking to break into Nigeria, hiring professional Igbo translators is a good idea.

It’s true that English is widely spoken in Nigeria, but few people speak it as a native language. Rather, it functions as a lingua franca to bind together the nation’s many ethnic groups—the result of the careless division of the African continent by European colonialists. This means Nigerians prefer to use their native language, such as Hausa, Yoruba, or Igbo. It also means that Nigerians, as second-language speakers of English, generally can’t produce professional-quality Igbo-to-English translations, either. But there’s a solution—whether you’re translating into Igbo or out of it, our Igbo translation team can help.

Find out how little professional Igbo translation services cost by requesting a free quote.

When It Comes to Igbo Translation, We’re the Experts

Igbo hails from the Niger-Congo language family, which covers most of West Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. It is a heavily agglutinative language, which means it glues together various affixes (mostly suffixes) to root words to create meaning. However, it does not explicitly mark case, instead relying on word order to convey the role of each noun phrase in a sentence.

Like many other West African languages, including Yoruba, Hausa, and Akan, Igbo makes extensive use of proverbs and idiomatic language in day-to-day communication, and disregarding proverbial expressions sounds awkward and unnatural. Social deixis, or formality registers, also plays a large role in the language, and speakers must be careful not to use a register that is too formal or too casual for the given circumstances. These conditions make Igbo a difficult language to translate. But our Igbo translation team is practiced and experienced, and we know how to craft a top-quality Igbo translation.

What Do You Want Us to Translate to or from Igbo?

• Digital content. The Internet is growing in Nigeria—the proliferation of smartphone usage is particularly strong. As more and more Nigerians access the Internet, the need for digital Igbo content increases. Whether you want to translate website copy, software programs, mobile applications, or games, our Igbo translation team can help you stand out by spreading your digital content in Igbo.
• Tourism materials. Nigeria and West Africa are increasingly becoming tourist destinations for adventurers who want to experience new cultures and the West African coastline. Our Igbo translators work closely with travel agencies, hotels, and resorts in Nigeria to translate brochures, posters, ads, and more from Igbo to English.
• Business documents. West Africa is on its way up economically, and as the region becomes richer, more and more international companies are looking to enter the market. Simultaneously, successful West African companies are moving out into the wider world. Expansion into the global market requires English, while successfully capturing local markets means catering to the local population in their native language. Our business Igbo translators can help you with your corporate goals, no matter which direction you’re going in.

From Port Harcourt to Enugu to Onicha to Aba, if you need Igbo translation services, you can count on our team. We’re passionate about bridging the communication gap between Igbo and English, helping businesses and content producers capture the local Igbo-speaking market or branch out to the wider world. We understand the urgency that may accompany some Igbo translation projects, which is why we let you determine the turnaround time—we’ll always translate your documents on time, we promise.

If you want Igbo translation services, contact us now for more information or a free quote.