On May 7, 2024, Ambassador Zhao Weiping attended the Celebration of the 2024 International Chinese Language Day and “Chinese Bridge” Chinese-proficiency Competition for College and Secondary School Students at the University of Namibia (UNAM). Over 200 teachers and students from relevant schools, including Prof. Kenneth Matengu, Vice Chancellor of UNAM, Prof. Ellen Namhila, Pro Vice Chancellor of UNAM, principals of relevant primary and secondary schools in Namibia, and Dr. Liu Dianbo, Chinese Director of the Confucius Institute at UNAM, participated in the event. The Namibian branch of Xinhua News Agency and several mainstream local media covered the event.

Ambassador Zhao said in his speech that he is pleased to see that the International Chinese Language Day has become an annual event in Namibia on the compound of UNAM, which has played an important role in promoting Chinese language teaching as well as cultural exchanges between China and Namibia. The Chinese Embassy will work hard to get more resources for Chinese language teaching in Namibia so as to benefit more local people.

Prof. Matengu said that more and more young people in Namibia are learning Chinese as a result of China’s rapid development. As China is an important partner for Namibia, he hopes that Namibian students will learn Chinese hard to contribute to the nation building of Namibia and the development of Namibia-China friendship.

This event was hosted by the Chinese Embassy in Namibia and organized by the Confucius Institute at UNAM. 12 competitors delivered speeches in Chinese and presented talent shows. Attendees also participated in food tasting and traditional Chinese medicine culture experience on site.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Republic of Namibia.

Promoters of the Pan-African Payment&Settlement System (PAPSS), namely African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank or “the Bank”) (https://www.Afreximbank.com), African Union Commission (AUC) and African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, successfully organized the first Consultative Forum of CEOs of African Banks bringing together executives of African commercial banks, bankers’ associations, payment switches, the association of African stock exchanges and other financial service providers.

Participants reaffirmed their strong support to the decisions of the Assembly of the African Union Heads of States and Governments of 2019 and 2020. The 2019 decision adopted PAPSS as the African Financial Market Infrastructure for cross-border payments and settlements while the 2020 decision mandated Afreximbank, AUC and AfCFTA Secretariat to urgently introduce and scale up the implementation of PAPSS.

The Forum therefore provided an avenue for participants to deliberate on the successes and challenges of the PAPSS payment system and explore potential path forward on how it can be optimised to facilitate seamless and efficient cross-border payments to support the implementation of the AfCFTA.

Following productive discussions, participants at the Forum agreed to take collective ownership of the success and the future of PAPSS given its significant and hugely positive impact on the facilitation of cross-border payments and the development of intra-African trade. In addition, participants advocated to leverage PAPSS as a pathway to increasing the share of African currencies in intra-African trade and other cross-border payments, as well as increasing the volume of intra-regional payments for mutual benefits to drive rapid adoption of PAPSS by businesses. Participants agreed to embed PAPSS into their digital channels to enable ease of access and seamless integration for existing customers.

Mr. Mike Ogbalu III, Chief Executive Officer of PAPSS, stated: “PAPSS is fully operational and making rapid progress. We have signed on thirteen African Central Banks, and connected over 115 commercial banks, and ten payment switches across Africa. Another 115 commercial banks are in the pipeline for connection. Our foundation is solid, and the time has come for action and acceleration. It is time to use the system to drive trade in Africa, for Africans, by Africans. We urge all banks to join us in our collective effort to promote intra-African trade and development through PAPSS.”

Further commenting, Mr. Ogbalu said: “We are pleased to see overwhelming support of this forum by the leadership of the African financial institutions. PAPSS is a revolutionary initiative that has the potential to significantly transform the financial and payments landscape of our continent. As managers of PAPSS, we are committed to ensuring it succeeds. We urge all African financial institutions to join us in transforming the way payments are done in Africa.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Afreximbank.

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About PAPSS:
The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System – PAPSS is a centralised Financial Market Infrastructure that enables the efficient flow of money securely across African borders, minimising risk and contributing to financial integration across the regions. PAPSS works in collaboration with Africa’s central banks to provide a payment and settlement service to which commercial banks and licensed payment service providers across the region can connect as ‘Participants’. Afreximbank and the African Union (“AU”) first announced PAPSS at the Twelfth Extraordinary Summit of the African Union held on July 7, 2019, in Niamey, Niger Republic, therefore adopting PAPSS as a key instrument for the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). Further, in its thirteenth (13th) extraordinary session, held on December 5, 2020, the assembly of the African Union directed Afreximbank and the AfCFTA secretariat to finalise, among others, work on the Pan-African Payments and Settlements System (PAPSS). The 35th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the AU further directed the AfCFTA and Afreximbank to deploy the system to cover the entire continent. PAPSS was officially launched in Accra, Ghana, on January 13, 2022, thus making it available for use by the public.

For more information, visit: www.PAPSS.com.

On May 7, 2024, Ambassador Zhao Weiping donated 200 copies of the book “Symbiotic Relationship between National Interest and Foreign Policy” written by the rector of the SWAPO Party School to Namibia School of Diplomatic Studies. The ceremony was attended by Prof. Kenneth Matengu, Vice Chancellor of the University of Namibia (UNAM), Prof. Ellen Namhila, Pro Vice Chancellor of UNAM, and representatives of the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation of Namibia.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Republic of Namibia.

In 2023, the Regional Collaboration Centres (RCCs) strengthened their position as an enabling force for climate action, engaging governments and stakeholders in key regions ahead of the first global stocktake that concluded at COP28 in Dubai. As highlighted in their latest Annual Report, the Centres were recognized in COP28 decisions for their potential to advance and accelerate progress, for example, through capacity-building activities on developing new climate action plans (Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)) or participation in the Article 6 emissions crediting mechanism.

The RCCs Annual Report 2023: Boosting Regional Preparedness shows how collaboration by the RCCs enables global progress and accelerated climate action through the power of partnerships.

They advanced pivotal work under the Paris Agreement tailored to their region’s needs: as collaborative platforms, they facilitated Paris Agreement implementation through technical assistance, networking, matchmaking and organizing capacity-building activities relating to NDCs, long-term low emissions development strategies, climate finance, Article 6 (where countries can pursue voluntary international cooperation to reach their climate targets), and more.

Introducing the Annual Report 2023, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell emphasizes the importance of regional collaboration, and notes the potential of the RCCs to advance climate action, and improve and safeguard lives and livelihoods around the world.

“Our Regional Collaboration Centres are playing their part. They are our hands, eyes, and ears on the ground,” he says. “They serve more than 140 developing countries and billions of people. RCCs map and build networks of actors and experts, assessing needs and providing support. The relationships they hold – across governments, civil society, and among experts – are incredibly valuable to the UN Climate Change secretariat.”

Among the RCC’s global RCC achievements were:

The Centres helped organize the Regional Climate Weeks 2023, which brought together more than 25,000 stakeholders at four regional events.
The six RCCs engaged organized, co-organized, or participated in a total of 235 capacity-building events on diverse topics.
RCCs advanced transition to Article 6 of the Paris Agreement while supporting 10 Clean Development Mechanism projects, help develop 17 standardized baselines to measure and compare emissions reductions in projects and over 100 individual stakeholder queries.
RCCs delivered training sessions on Article 6 at the Regional Climate Weeks, held dialogues and conducted surveys to identify the best path forward.

In their respective regions, the RCCs took a customized approach, also with a view to advancing implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals:

RCC Asia-Pacific is involved in adaptation and building resilience, needs they identified in the region and a request received from governments.
RCC Caribbean connects a diverse network to explore innovative ways to address climate change for Small Island Developing States.
RCC East and Southern Africa focuses on engaging all stakeholders in the process, including women and youth.
RCC Latin America supports action on agriculture, which is fundamental to economic growth in the region and meeting the climate challenge.
RCC Middle East and North Africa and South Asia is heavily involved in the Needs-based Finance project, where they collaborate to facilitate access and mobilize climate finance.
RCC West and Central Africa supports adaptation activities and facilitates participation of countries in the Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

Moving forward, the RCCs have defined robust workplans tailored to their region. The next round of NDCs is in focus, as is enhancing access to climate finance, enabling Article 6 as a climate solution, addressing loss and damage and the development of National Adaptation Plans (NAPs). The Centres will continue to engage widely with youth, indigenous communities, business leaders and experts for an inclusive and coordinated approach to climate action.

Interested collaborators are invited to explore the RCCs Annual Report 2023: Boosting Regional Preparedness to better understand the work of the Centres in each region. Check out the RCCs on the web, sign up for regular newsletters and join the LinkedIn group to connect with a community of collaborators for climate action.

Partner Voices

The RCCs Annual Report 2023: Boosting Regional Preparedness features messages from our regional partners that host the RCCs and are key to the Centres’ ongoing success. They share their perspectives on the RCCs in their own words below.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).