This paper argues that the challenge of intercultural communication has often been overlooked in discussions of indigenous language literacy in Africa. The omission continues despite the fact that literacy practices in Africa have often served as a means of intercultural communication, especially among highly educated Africans. Proposals for the adoption of indigenous language literacy are not likely to succeed unless a policy is developed that deals with the problematic of intercultural communication. For maximum effectiveness, indigenous language literacy practices in Africa will have to involve a balance between vernacular, transcultural and intercultural literacy. This paper offers definitions for both intercultural literacy and transcultural literacy. It agues that exclusive vernacular literacy coupled with translation between vernacular languages will encourage language shift towards more powerful languages. By contrast, a practice of intercultural literacy will blunt the drift towards monoculturalism, while transcultural literacy will enhance recovery of local agency over African textual production. (Contains 23 notes.)