▁systems ▁native ▁to ▁West ▁Africa ▁ ▁and ▁Central ▁Africa . ▁In ▁the ▁last ▁two ▁centuries , ▁a ▁large ▁variety ▁of ▁writing ▁systems ▁have ▁been ▁created ▁in ▁Africa ▁( D al by ▁ 1 9 6 7 , ▁ 1 9 6 8 , ▁ 1 9 6 9 ). ▁Some ▁are ▁still ▁in ▁use ▁today , ▁while ▁others ▁have ▁been ▁largely ▁disp la ced ▁by ▁non - A fr ican ▁writing ▁such ▁as ▁the ▁Arab ic ▁script ▁and ▁the ▁Latin ▁script . ▁Below ▁are ▁non - Lat in ▁and ▁non - A rab ic - based ▁writing ▁systems ▁used ▁to ▁write ▁various ▁languages ▁of ▁Africa . ▁ ▁The ▁B am um ▁( B am un ; ▁also ▁Sh um om ) ▁system ▁of ▁p ict ographic ▁writing ▁was ▁invent ed ▁beginning ▁in ▁the ▁late ▁ 1 9 th ▁century ▁by ▁Sultan ▁N jo ya ▁I bra him ▁for ▁writing ▁the ▁B am un ▁language ▁in ▁what ▁is ▁now ▁Cam ero on . ▁It ▁quickly ▁developed ▁into ▁a ▁sy ll ab ary . ▁It ▁is ▁rarely ▁used ▁today , ▁but ▁a ▁fair ▁amount ▁of ▁material ▁written ▁in ▁this ▁script ▁still ▁exists . ▁ ▁Other ▁modern ▁writing ▁systems ▁developed ▁in ▁West ▁Africa ▁include : ▁ ▁The ▁Ad lam ▁alphabet ▁developed ▁for ▁writing ▁the ▁F ula ▁language , ▁mostly ▁used ▁in ▁Guinea ▁The ▁Ak agu ▁alphabet ▁designed ▁for ▁the ▁Ig bo ▁language , ▁used ▁to ▁supp lement ▁modern ized ▁N s ib idi ▁characters ▁Bass a ▁alphabet ▁of ▁Liber ia ▁B été ▁sy ll ab ary