BBC World Service is launching a new language service for its digital platforms for West and Central Africa. As part of its expansion strategy, the BBC is launching its service in Pidgin, the most widely spoken language in the region.

Bilkisu Labaran,Editorial Lead of the new BBC service said: “It’s an informal lingua franca. It is a language that really unites people and cuts across all sorts of barriers – ethnic, regional and socio-economic.”

BBC Pidgin is to provide a mix of local, regional and international news, current affairs and analysis. The BBC also added that the new digital service could to cater to a younger audience and women.

Along with this new language service the BBC also plans to offer more mobile and video content and a greater social media presence. It seeks to improve its TV services across the African continent and to add more than 30 new TV programmes for partner broadcasters in sub-Saharan Africa.