On December 19^th 2000, the then President of the Republic of Mali, His Excellency Alpha Oumar KONARE, established the Mission for the African Academy of Languages (MACALAN), by Presidential Decree N°00-630/PRM.

The Mission became the African Academy of Languages (ACALAN) in January 2006, when its statutes were adopted by the Sixth Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Heads of State and Government of the Member States of the African Union, as a specialised institution of the African Union.

ACALAN is entrusted with the task of developing and promoting African languages so that they can be used in all domains of the society in partnership with the languages inherited from colonisation: English, French, Portuguese and Spanish.