The Presiding Officers of Parliament, Ms Thoko Didiza, Speaker of the National Assembly, and Ms Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane, Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, join the country in commemorating Heritage Day.

Today, as a country, we draw inspiration from the words on our National Coat of Arms, !ke e: /xarra //ke, written in the Khoisan language of the /Xam people, meaning diverse people unite. Ours is a diverse nation woven by various cultures, customs, and languages that make us unique. These are constant reminders that our unity, even in our diversity, is our strength as a country.

On this day, the Presiding Officers note that Heritage Day is also a time to remember and take pride in what unites us – our Constitution. Our Bill of Rights, which is a cornerstone of our democracy, states that no person may be discriminated against based on their ethnicity, belief, culture, language, or birth.

In a time when many countries are often divided by culture, ethnicity and language, we have continued to show resilience and embrace our differences as a country. The last 30 years of democracy are also testament to the significant progress in developing our shared heritage as a country.

As the democratic Parliament, we have committed a considerable amount of time to pass laws as redress to the harm caused by the Western and colonial culture, which dismissed Indigenous African heritage as primitive and having no cultural significance.

To transform South Africa’s heritage landscape, the democratic government, and the democratic Parliament in particular, focused on developing laws that enabled policy change and created institutions that would address colonialism’s effects on social justice and nation-building.

This Heritage Day takes place at a time when significant progress is being made in rebuilding the damaged buildings of our Parliament. This crucial people’s project will preserve and promote the nation’s diverse heritage while recognising the National Assembly Chamber’s historical value in reflecting the country’s aesthetic and cultural legacy. The new design incorporates modern engineering while respecting the building’s original significance, with features like a raised structure that allows the public to connect with the land beneath.

This project exemplifies the principles of the National Heritage Resources Act, which emphasises that heritage is unique, precious, and central to shaping our cultural identity. The restoration not only safeguards the National Assembly’s historical and architectural integrity but also serves as a powerful symbol of unity in diversity. By blending historical value, indigenous knowledge, and modern innovation, the new National Assembly Chamber will continue to affirm South Africa’s rich heritage and inspire future generations to uphold the values of democracy and cultural unity.

Recently, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has recognised South Africa’s investment in the promotion and preservation of heritage by declaring the Pleistocene Occupation Sites of South Africa and the inscription of sites termed Human Rights, Liberation and Reconciliation: Nelson Mandela Legacy Sites as World Heritage Sites. The addition of these two sites means South Africa is now home to 12 of the 1 223 sites on the World Heritage List.

“Today, let us celebrate our unity in diversity, unique cultures, related artefacts, music, and variety of food. Those who came before us left us with a proud heritage, and our current generation is responsible for celebrating and preserving it. Let us continue strengthening our commitment to preserving our living heritage and work collectively towards a brighter, more inclusive future for South Africa.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Republic of South Africa: The Parliament.

M-KOPA (https://M-KOPA.com/), a leading emerging market fintech, announced that it has surpassed 5 million customers across Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa. Two million of these customers have come onboard in the past 15 months.

M-KOPA’s innovative model makes affordable smartphones embedded with financial services available to ‘Every Day Earners’: the wide majority of African adults who earn their income daily but struggle to afford smartphones and typically fail to qualify for conventional financial services. According to the World Bank, 75% of adults in sub-Saharan Africa remain financially excluded. To date, M-KOPA has supported its customer base with more than US $1.5 billion in financing.

Starting with smartphone access, customers gain entry to the digital economy with an affordable daily repayment model, which fits their daily income and cash flow and makes it easier to manage. By leveraging rich payments data and proprietary AI-driven analytics, M-KOPA builds a credit record for each customer which forms the foundation for a long-term financial relationship for lower cost digital loans, affordable data subscriptions and medical insurance.

According to M-KOPA co-founder and CEO, Jesse Moore: “We are thrilled to welcome our 5 millionth customer to M-KOPA this month. The scale of our operations and our positive impact on customers is what keeps us working hard to go even further. We’re just getting started; the opportunity for much larger impact and scale is right in front of us.”

M-KOPA also published its 2024 Impact Report this week, in which the company annually releases its progress against key social and environmental impact metrics.  As with prior reports, the 2024 survey of M-KOPA customers was undertaken by a third-party company – Dalberg Research.

Key impact highlights from the 2024 report include:

92% confirm that M-KOPA’s financing has made technology more affordable.
80% of customers report an improved quality of life thanks to M-KOPA’s products.
70% credit M-KOPA with helping them achieve their financial goals, demonstrating the company’s contribution to financial empowerment.
62% use their M-KOPA product to generate income

The company is having a major impact in improving digital access in Africa. Nearly 2 million customers are first-time mobile internet users and 40% are women. M-KOPA also built the first and largest smartphone assembly factory in Kenya – which has produced more than 1m phones locally and further reduced the cost of access.

As with prior reports, M-KOPA’s board and management use the annual impact report to help shape forward company strategy. Based on this year’s findings, M-KOPA is working to further increase its percentage of female customers to 50%, to reduce its carbon footprint by making circularity central to its smartphone supply chain, and to continue pioneering green products like electric motorbikes that contribute to the health and sustainability of the communities where it operates.

M-KOPA’s Chief Product Officer Nena Sanderson, notes: “Our product and services build pathways to prosperity for our customers and agents, enabling them to overcome financial setbacks, generate income and progress towards the futures they aspire to. Our impact extends beyond our customers, reaching their families and communities, and contributing to building a more sustainable world.”

Headquartered in London, UK, M-KOPA now creates employment for more than 3,000 staff and 30,000 commission-based sales agents across Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa.  The company has been recognised by the Financial Times as one of Africa’s Fastest Growing Companies for the past 3 years, and by Time Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential Companies globally for the past 2 years.

To read the full report, download it here: M-KOPA Impact Report 2024_Pathways To Progress (http://apo-opa.co/4eguFD2).

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of M-KOPA.

For media enquiries, please contact:
Wimbart
mkopa@wimbart.com

About M-KOPA: 
M-KOPA is a UK-headquartered emerging market fintech that provides affordable smartphones and digital financial services. With operations in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda, the company has extended over $1.5 billion in credit to more than 5 million customers. Using an innovative financing model based on daily repayments, M-KOPA provides affordable smartphones embedded with financial services that fit with the cash flow of millions of underserved individuals who earn their income on a daily basis.

By leveraging rich payments data and proprietary AI-driven analytics, M-KOPA builds a credit record for each customer which forms the foundation for a long-term financial relationship for digital loans, affordable data subscriptions and insurance.

The company employs over 3,000 staff and 30,000 sales agents across its African markets. M-KOPA has been recognised by the Financial Times as one of Africa’s Fastest Growing Companies for the past 3 years, and by Time Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential Companies globally for the past 2 years.

In an appeal for greater global solidarity with the people of Sudan, the World Food Programme (WFP) said that around 800,000 people have fled to Ondo in neighbouring Chad after enduring “unimaginable violence”.

WFP Communications Officer Leni Kinzli told journalists in Geneva that those fleeing areas at risk of famine said that they had left “because there was nothing left to eat and all their crops had been destroyed by floods”.

Too dangerous to farm

Others said that “they could not even farm because it was too unsafe to go to their fields” because of fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces which erupted on 15 April last year.

“We are doing everything we can, but we cannot stop widespread starvation and hunger-related deaths without the support and attention of the international community,” said Ms. Kinzli. “World leaders need to give this humanitarian catastrophe the attention it requires that attention that needs to be translated into concerted diplomatic efforts at the highest levels to push for a humanitarian ceasefire and ultimately, an end to the conflict.”

Aid access granted

Since the Adre border crossing from Chad into Sudan reopened a month ago, WFP has transported 2,800 tons of food and nutrition supplies into the Darfur region – guaranteeing enough aid for a quarter of a million people. Of that number, 100,000 are at risk of famine, the UN agency said, warning that the war has pushed some 36 million people into hunger in Sudan and the neighbouring region.

“Trucks carrying vital food and nutrition supplies are crossing that border every single day, despite facing delays due to flooded seasonal rivers and muddy road conditions where aid convoys are getting stuck,” Ms. Kinzli said.

Although Chad is not at war, the needs are staggering there too, the WFP officer explained: “People are only met with hunger and destitution” once they cross the border from Sudan, she said. “Despite receiving food assistance, many are struggling to get by, eating once a day if they are lucky. Like a teenage girl I met…who lost her parents and is taking care of her younger siblings. Sometimes she’s only able to offer them water instead of a meal. If that is the situation for people in a comparatively safe and stable place, it is hard to imagine what people facing famine or at risk of famine in Sudan are going through.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of UN News.

To strengthen the management of natural resources in ECOWAS, the WABiLED Program has supported The ECOWAS Commission to develop governance tools namely Forest Convergence Plan, Strategy to Combat Wildlife trafficking and has granted in 2021, Eight community and research organizations got a total of 10 grants to carry out activities leading to the conservation of the forest resources in Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone with a total cost of more than Six (6) million US dollars.

The West Africa Biodiversity and Low Emissions Development (WABiLED) Financial Year 2025 Work Plan review workshop was held in Accra between the 18th and 19th of September 2025. The objective of the workshop included a) sharing the final draft of the core elements of the WABiLED FY25 Annual Work Plan and solicit input from stakeholders, including ECOWAS Directorate of Environment and Natural Resources, USAID West Africa and bilateral Missions and USAID/Washington, and other partners to inform a final draft AWP for submission to USAID/West Africa, and b) hear directly from a core group of WABiLED grantees about their work in transboundary landscapes across the region.

The workshop started with each of the WABiLED objectives giving information of their key achievements with examples and lessons learnt over the three years of the implementation of the program. Some of the achievements included the recognition of ECOWAS final endorsement of the West Africa Strategy for Combating Wildlife Crime, the establishment of the West Africa Network, the setting up of the West Africa TWIX, the production of the restoration opportunity maps for four transboundary landscapes in the Upper Guinea forests, and a few other related activities. The presentation on key achievements was followed with presentation on the work plan for the financial year 2025.

The second day of the workshop was devoted to information sharing on the activities of grantees supported under the WABiLED program.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).