Yes, should you fly in Africa, knowledge of basics of French and Portuguese is definitely a recommendation, and be ready to understand some (quite) variable levels of English language.
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The extent of the former British Empire nations is nearly equal to the nations which were "Colonies Françaises" and the Belgian territories of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi using French as well. Further, you will often overfly (or land) in Angola or Mozambique where Portuguese is used.
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I often read the forums of pilots who are inquiring about education and training, about what is recommended in i.e. maths and physics... Honest, to be a pilot, a good scientific subjects background of secondary education level should be sufficient to pass the ATPL written exams. Why not consider the study of languages such as French, and Spanish/Portuguese. It would be invaluable for Africa... And should you be hired by an African airline or airplane operator, I would say, it is a must.
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Two weeks of "total immersion" at a Berlitz language school (or equivalent) with French and or Spanish/Portuguese is definitely sufficient to handle these languages in the aviation environment. A "total immersion" program can be tailored to your needs, and have your language teacher telling you how to ask for wind direction, altitudes or levels, how to say visibility or ceiling. With "total immersion" it is often a one-to-one teacher/student, so it is up to you to specify your vocabulary needs.
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Note: I said Spanish/Portuguese... Spanish is of almost no use in Africa but I recommend it to European and North American pilots, because of being of use in Central/South America... If you speak Spanish, you
can understand a lot of Portuguese, and they can understand you. Fact is, in Angola and Mozambique, I noticed that they use a more "Brazilian" Portuguese vocabulary and accent. When I massacre Portuguese in Brazil, Angola and Mozambique, I make a mix with Spanish... I call it "Portuñol"...
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Ppune benefit - your first lesson in French, Spanish and Portuguese.
Learn the numbers... in case of ATC confusion.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. 0 =
FRENCH - hun, deh, trwa, katreh, sink, sees, set, wheet, nof, zayro -
SPANISH - unoh, doss, tress, kwatro, sinko, sess, seeyeteh, otsho, nweveh, seroh -
PORTUGUESE - oom, doysh, tresh, kwatro, sinko, seysh, seteh, oytoh, nohveh, seroh -
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Anecdote about Kinshasa...
I had noticed that the tower always gave the wind to be 250º/10 knots, when the wind is quite different... I inquired why. Apparently, tower controllers learn English communications in training, in Brussels, and did learn to say (in English) "wind iz two fife zeero at won zeero knots"... So, as they are good students, that is exactly what they will give you as wind, for their entire career. M'dio bwana...
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Oh - I forgot - two PortuGEEZE - one PortuGOOSE...
Happy contrails