Prince William gave a powerful speech during the fourth Earthshot Award ceremony held in Cape Town on Wednesday, with a special nod to the African continent.

The Prince of Wales, in a show of respect for the African continent, began his speech with greetings in nine languages ​​representing North, East, West and South Africa.

In his speech, William expressed his gratitude for the “warmest and most generous welcome” he received during his visit and went on to speak of his “ambition to uphold the spirit of ingenuity which has put a man on Moon within ten years”.

Prince William, who founded the initiative in 2020 to find solutions to repair the planet, said he was inspired during his trip to Namibia and Tanzania. He said he was “lucky enough to see some of the amazing wildlife that calls this continent home”.

“What really struck me was the incredible impact local people were having on the environment around them,” said William. “Thanks to their ingenuity and creativity, biodiversity returned, animals were protected and jobs were created.”

He continued: “I saw firsthand how people were devoting their time, talent and vision to solving environmental challenges, but weren’t getting the support they needed to accelerate their solutions to scale or to scale them up world.

“However, I believe our world can be rich in possibility, hope and optimism.”

After expressing his support for the participants and their solutions to help heal the planet, William closed the speech by thanking the audience in several African languages.

“Dankie, Enkosi, Daalu, Asante, Thank you,” he said.