This article examines some of the problems concerning the language of instruction in higher education within Europe and relates them to the African context. The author argues that there is reason to be worried about the spread of the use of English as a language of instruction in higher education, to the detriment of the smaller European languages in particular. The article gives an insight into the Norwegian and Swedish debate on the issue of domain loss to English in higher education. Towards the end, the article examines the language situation within the European Union. Here politicians publicly stress the need to maintain all the languages of the EU as part of the community's wealth, but the reality appears to be different, as the EU is marked by the ever greater predominance of just one language, English.