Literacy has been defined as the trademark of a “developed” society. We give a lot of weight to literacy. We say one is educated if they are able to write in an elegant manner. I guess because it shows the capability to create something complex. Thus, we give it weight. I think that writing systems in general does allow for organization to be much better but that’s also the reality I live in, so I can’t speak for communities that use oral traditions and concepts to relay information. Hell, I can’t even speak for communities and people groups that don’t use the Latin script, either.
Nonetheless, most scripts we use today (Latin, Arabic, Cryllic) derive from the Phoenicians and Aramaic peoples, who in turn got their alphabet from the Egyptian hieroglyphics. East Asian scripts as well as the Mayan (indigenous American) scripts are exceptions. Below are three types of writing systems used in pre-colonial Atlantic Africa.
Ajami Script
The word “Ajami” derives from the Arabic word for “stranger”, it is the name for the style of Arabic script used for writing down African languages such as Swahili, Hausa, Fula and the like. Its inception probably began between the 10th and 12th century. Spiritual amulets with Ajami written prayers were prized all throughout West Africa. There have been tons of manuscripts in Hausa Ajami from the 16th century onward about their traditions, wars, and even contemporary material like Gaddafi’s Green Book. Mandinka Ajami scripts found in Timbuktu discuss who went to Mecca first during the 13th century, conquests of the Mali kingdom as well as the inception of the Kaabu empire. More and more pieces of uncovered poems, art, and opinions in Ajami script are flowing in West Africa and Swahililand.
Nsibiri(or Nsibidi) script
A script first developed by the Ejagham people of Southeastern Nigeria around 400 AD. Eventually, it spread to their larger neighbors such as the Igbo, Ibibio as well as the Efik. Igbo uri or uli designs are said to be influenced by their characters. The script is mostly representations of words, ideas and concepts. Its characters can be compared to hieroglyphics or the current Chinese script. The Ekpe secret society (a group containing individuals of all four peoples) used this system religiously–which was crucial to its influence during the Atlantic slave trade era. Igbo, Ibibio, and Efik peoples were a part of this society. Very few people are literate in Nsibiri because of its “irreconcibility” to Christianity.
LUSONA
An ideographic system that has awed mathematicians and the like, it is used among the Chokwe and Ngangela peoples. These people are from Angola as well as Zambia. The system of Lusona derives from the 1st century BC and is used to depict life lessons, comedy, love, war, religious stories and the like. It was used also by kingdoms of Ndongo and Kongo on materials deemed to be of importance. The initiation process for Lusona takes around 6-8 months and has a system of mathematical rules such as chaining and elimination. Elements of transformational geometry, abstract alegra and linear algebra in the writing system also give a richness to the language it speaks.