This article has been excerpted from "Perspectives on the Sign Language Factor in Sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges of Sustainability" (Lutalo-Kiingi and De Clerck) in "Sign Language, Sustainable Development, and Equal Opportunities: Envisioning the Future for Deaf Students" (G. A. M. De Clerck and P. V. Paul (Eds.) 2016). In this chapter, the authors illuminate Africa's enormous cultural and linguistic diversity. A third of the world's living spoken languages are used in Africa, which means that, on average, 40 or more spoken languages are used in each country on the continent. Much as Wolff (2013) has articulated the notion of the "language factor," the authors propose to formulate the "sign language factor" to illuminate hierarchies in the use of national and indigenous sign languages versus "official languages" in Sub-Saharan Africa. Drawing on documentation of linguistic, social, cultural, and educational practices of deaf people and sign language communities on the African continent, the authors aim to work toward an understanding of the sign language factor and its impact on development.