The Little Prince in Ndebele

The translation of “Le Petit Prince” (Inkosana Encane) by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry in Ndebele. 

For the first time, “Le Petit Prince”, the most famous French novel in the World, already translated in more than 550 languages, will have its Ndebele version. The Alliance Française of Bulawayo, in partnership with the P.I.A.F. is working on this amazing project promoting language diversity and reading.

The P.I.A.F. association (Pôle d’Ingénierie et d’Appui de la Francophonie)) was created in 2021 at the initiative of several contractual executives from France’s foreign network with the aim of supporting projects with impact, cultural, linguistic, and technical cooperation around the world.

In 2023, drawing on its expertise and network and on the occasion of the celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the first publication of Saint-Exupéry’s “The Little Prince” and the 130th anniversary of the birth of the Alliance Française movement, the P.I.A.F. sealed an ambitious project with the sponsorship of the Swiss “Jean-Marc Probst Foundation for The Little Prince” for the defense and promotion of global linguistic diversity.

The translation has already started and an audio book will be released in the coming months. Books will be printed in Zimbabwe and distributed to different schools, associations and literature and reading circles.