"The number of languages natively spoken in Africa is variously estimated ... at between 1,250 and 2,100."
Study of African linguistic diversity, history, and impact, including indigenous, colonial, and global languages, dialects, and variations.
Linguistics: This involves the study of languages, their structure, and how they are used to communicate.
Phonetics: The study of the sounds used in language.
Semantics: The study of meaning in language.
Morphology: The study of the structure of words.
Syntax: The study of the structure of sentences.
Historical linguistics: Focuses on how languages change over time and how they are related to each other.
Sociolinguistics: Studies how language is used in social settings.
Dialectology: The study of the different dialects used in a particular language.
Ibadism: An Islamic sect with its roots in Africa.
African history: Study of the continent's past.
Sociolinguistic variation: Examines the relationship between language and social factors, such as race, ethnicity, gender and class.
Creole and Pidgin languages: These languages are developed from a mixture of two or more parent languages.
Akan language: A language spoken in Ghana.
Swahili: A language spoken in Tanzania and other East African countries.
Yoruba language: A language spoken in Nigeria.
Zulu language: A language spoken in South Africa.
Bantu languages: A group of languages spoken in central, east, and southern Africa.
West African languages: Languages spoken in West Africa.
South African languages: Languages spoken in South Africa.
North African languages: Languages spoken in North Africa.
Afro-Asiatic: This is the largest language family in Africa, with over 300 million speakers across North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of West Africa. Some well-known Afro-Asiatic languages include Arabic, Amharic, and Hausa.
Niger-Congo: This is the second largest language family in Africa, with over 1,400 different languages spoken across West, Central, and Southern Africa. Some well-known Niger-Congo languages include Swahili, Yoruba, and Zulu.
Khoisan: This is a group of languages spoken by the Khoisan peoples of Southern Africa, and is notable for its use of click consonants. Examples of Khoisan languages include !Xóõ and ǂKhomani.
Nilo-Saharan: This is a language family spoken by various ethnic groups in Central and Eastern Africa. Example of Nilo-Saharan languages include Dinka, Luo, and Maasai.
Austronesian: This is a small language family spoken in Madagascar, off the coast of East Africa. The best-known Austronesian language spoken in Madagascar is Malagasy.
Indo-European: This is a small language family spoken in North Africa, particularly by Berber populations. Examples of Indo-European languages spoken in Africa include French and Spanish in former European colonies.
"Nigeria alone has over 500 languages, one of the greatest concentrations of linguistic diversity in the world."
"The largest language family in Africa is Niger-Congo, which includes the large Atlantic-Congo and Bantu branches in West, Central, Southeast, and Southern Africa."
"Afroasiatic languages are spread throughout Western Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of the Sahel."
"Saharan, Nilotic, and Central Sudanic languages are present in East Africa and Sahel."
"Austronesian languages are spoken in Madagascar and parts of the Comoros."
"Khoe-Kwadi languages are spoken principally in Namibia and Botswana."
"Indo-European languages are spoken in South Africa and Namibia (Afrikaans, English, German)."
"...former colonies of the United Kingdom (English), former colonies of France and of Belgium (French), former colonies of Portugal (Portuguese), former colonies of Italy (Italian), former colonies of Spain (Spanish)..."
"There are several other small families and language isolates..."
"Africa has a wide variety of sign languages..."
"Around a hundred languages are widely used for interethnic communication."
"Arabic, Somali, Amharic, Oromo, Igbo, Swahili, Hausa, Manding, Fulani, and Yoruba are spoken as a second (or non-first) language by millions of people."
"Although many African languages are used on the radio, in newspapers, and in primary-school education, and some of the larger ones are considered national languages, only a few are official at the national level."
"...most official languages at the national level tend to be colonial languages such as French, Portuguese, or English."
"The African Union declared 2006 the 'Year of African Languages'." Please note that the answers provided here are paraphrased for brevity and clarity.